Transformers: Energon DX
by Chaos Death Saurer
Summary: Episode 10: Secrets of Energon. What can Energon REALLY do, and how will Starscream fare in a duel against Galvatron? R
1. Beginning of the End

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 1: The Beginning of the End

SYTEM SCAN INITIALIZED

ASESSING DAMAGE LEVELS

DAMAGE LEVELS UNACCEPTABLE

ENERGON LEVELS LOW

SEARCHING FOR ENERGON...

ENERGON DETECTED

PLANETS WITH ENERGON: EARTH, CYBERTRON, MARS, ASTEROID BELT

TARGETS TOO FAR

NOT ENOUGH ENERGON

SEARCHING DATABASE FOR WAY TO OBTAIN ENERGON

ACTIVATING SOLDIER UNITS: TERRORCONS

ACTIVATING LEADER UNIT: ALPHA QUINTESSON, A.K.A ALPHA Q

Deep within the blackened ruins of the planet-sized Transformer, Unicron, where all was still, a noise was heard. The noise was the sound of something rising from the ashes within. In the cavernous belly of Unicron, the four-headed robot lifted itself from the ruin. This was Alpha Q. Former Emperor of the Quintesson Empire, based on the Planet Q, they do not remember how they got here. All they know is their directive.

"Uhhhhh... What happened?" Alpha Q groaned.

"ALPHA Q." A deep, booming voice said.

"Who...who's there?" The collective voice of Alpha Q quavered.

"I ... AM UNICRON." The vice began to wheeze.

"U... Unicron? Why are we here?"

"I HAVE REACTIVATED...YOU FOR...A PURPOSE." Unicron sputtered.

"What purpose?"

"YOU...ARE TO GET...ME...ENERGON."

"Energon? But, our military has been destroyed. We are weak, we cannot get this ourselves."

"I WILL ALLOW YOU T...TO USE MY RESOURCES AS YOU SEE FIT. I HAVE ALREADY...RE...RE...REACTIVATED YOUR ARMY...THE TERRORCONS."

"The Terrorcons..." Alpha Q thought. Time to see how pliable Unicron would be. "What's in it for us?"

"HAD I THE STRENGTH, I MIGHT CRUSH YOU NOW. HOWEVER, I HAVE TOO LITTLE ENERGON TO ACTIVATE SOMEONE ELSE. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"We want..." Alpha Q thought. They weren't sure what they wanted. They had their former military. Then a memory rose from the ashes. A flash of a planet being destroyed, and screaming. It was dark, and all they saw was their planet being destroyed.

Their planet...

How they missed it.

How they longed to breathe its air...

How they wished to feel the ground beneath their tentacles...

"We want our planet back." They had decided.

"YOUR PLANET...THIS I CAN DO. I CAN GET YOU YOUR PLANET. I WANT MY ENERGON."

"So, we have a deal?" Alpha Q checked.

"YES. NOW, I MUST REST. MY ENERGON IS DANGEROUSLY LOW."

"Very well. Now go, Terrorcons, go to the asteroid belt in the Terran System, and get us as much Energon as you can!" Alpha Q exclaimed as the Terrorcon legions flew off through the Space Bridge.

In the asteroid belt of the Terran System, one asteroid had a base built on it, as did many of the surrounding asteroids. A massive Transformer stood at the entrance to the central base. He was tall, and he was brightly colored. He was mostly white, with green with a yellow lightning design on the flat parts of his arms and legs. His broad chest had four heavy laser turrets on it, pointed forward. His face was expressionless, no mouth, yellow, boxy eyes, and a sort of helmet around his face. This was the Decepticon, Tidal Wave. Once one of Megatron's mightiest soldiers, he now served the Autobots. It's not like he had a choice. It was either live with them, or die in the aftermath of the Unicron Battles. The choice was simple for him, simple, like his mind.

"Hey, Tidal Wave, it's time for your break." an Autobot said.

Tidal Wave didn't move. He needed no breaks. As long as he was away from the Autobots, he would be perfectly fine. The farther, the better. He liked to think about the battles he'd won by himself. When he was assigned to Earth, to serve with the mighty Megatron, he almost fainted. Him, serve with Megatron himself? Serving with him was the fast track to promotion...or death. Megatron had a notoriously nasty temper. Anyone who failed him would die, unless Megatron had other plans for that bot. It was usually death.

Tidal Wave had sworn to do everything Megatron told him without question. He would make his name with Megatron, or die trying.

"Hey, Tidal Wave! I said, it's time for your break!" the Autobot repeated.

Tidal Wave still ignored him. He'd gotten good at that over the years. Stupid Autobots...why couldn't they all just die? Tidal Wave longed for the day Megatron would rise again, and lead his followers to victory, and crush the pathetic Autobots once and for all! But it wouldn't happen. Tidal Wave had waited 10 years for Megatron's Glorious Reappearing, but his faith was beginning to waver. The Autobots were too strong now. The Fist Minicon War had depleted the Autobot numbers drastically, down to a minor resistance. The breif peace following that war saw more Autbots rise, but the Cybertronian Wars started up again. Autobot numbers had dwindled fast. Then the Second Minicon War arrived, and the Autobots began to win. Then the Unicron battles came, battling the massive Transformer known as Unicron. Megatron (or Galvatron, as he was known at the time) had sacrificed himself to save Cybertron, to stop the burning hatred on the planet and force Unicron to find other energy sources. Starscream had sacrificed himself to push for the peace between the Autobots and Decepticons, all to combat Unicron. All that sacrifice...just for a peace that has lasted longer than any other peace in Cybertronian history. The Decepticons' morale had been shattered after finding out that Megatron was dead. Some still held to the belief that Megatron would return, greater and more terrible than ever before. How Tidal Wave longed for that day.

"Ahh, Decepticons. Always so uptight." the Autobot grumbled.

"When they were made, the makers forgot to put in the relax chip." another Autobot said, and the two laughed. Why did they have to laugh at him? He'd show them, one day.

Tidal Wave saw a glimmer in the distance. He might have shrugged it off as a star, but there were more of them. This didn't look good. Tidal Wave turned to warn the others, but they had left. When Tidal Wave turned around, he could see what these things were. There were a horde of bots built like birds flying at them, carrying what looked like big robot cats.

"Uh-oh." Tidal Wave's gravelly voice said, before he was engulfed in blasterfire.

Back on Earth, a circular dot sat in the middle of the ocean. It was a sprawling city, named Ocean City. Autobots weren't good at naming things. Water flowed off of it in deluges. A Transformer stepped out of the front gate as the road bridge extended to meet the city. The bot had spindly legs, which acted as his treads in vehicle mode. His shoulders held two long cannons that were his main cannons in vehicle mode. His torso was short and, from the side, shaped like home plate from a baseball game. He wore the Decepticon insignia proudly on his chest, and his head...his head was odd. One of his eyes was bigger than the other, and a different color. This was Demolishor, not too bright, but a strong warrior and loyal to Megatron.

"Hey, what's going on? No one told me we were surfacing!" Demolishor asked in his deep voice. He sounded like he wasn't very smart.

"Comin' through!" a voice yelled. A motorcycle zipped in between Demolishor's legs.

"Kicker! What do you think you're doing?" Demolishor called out after the speed demon.

Kicker was the average 16-year old. He was rebellious, he cared mostly for himself, and rarely listened to authority. His brown hair flew out from behind him, out the bottom of his helmet.

"Move it, Demolishor!" another voice called out.

On Mars, they had stopped receiving signals from Asteroid Base. The two were in contact almost constantly, as Asteroid Base was in constant need of machinery.

"What the? Hey, Blaster, we just lost contact with the Asteroid Base!" an Autobot called out.

"What?" Blaster walked over to the console. There were no transmissions of any kind coming from the Asteroid Base. "Radio Optimus. He needs to know about this."

A blip appeared on the radar. "What's that?" the comm officer asked.

"The reason to radio Optimus. Get that transmission sent!" Blaster ordered as the blips multiplied exponentially.

Just as the transmission was sent, Blaster's world erupted in fire.

A yellow car sped past Demolishor, who had only just gotten out of the way. The car sped on to catch up with Kicker. He is a yellow car in vehicle mode. In robot mode, his front doors spread over his shoulders like wings. His torso was broad, and his arms were somewhat thin. His head was red at the top, with a fin popping up like a sharp hill. His legs were composed of the front of the car. He has blue eyes. He is headstrong, and has a fairly bad temper. This is Hot Shot. Loyal to the Autobots forever, he is one of the few who served with Optimus Prime during the Second Minicon War and the Unicron Battles. He is a veteran soldier, and something of a hero to the rookies.

"Pull over, Kicker!" Hot shot yelled.

"Try and catch me!" Kicker called back.

Elsewhere within Ocean City, Optimus Prime was educating some rookies. He was oddly built. His torso was large, and his arms and legs were spindly by comparison. He wore the Autobot insignia proudly on his shoulder. His head had no mouth, and his eyes were yellow. In vehicle mode he is a truck, complete with a trailer. He is powerful, he is compassionate, and he has a great respect for life. He is everything the Autobots stand for. He threw a bot over his head and into the ground.

"Now, who's next?" Optimus asked the assembled rookies.

"I'll go again!" the bot Optimus had just beaten said. This bot had a blocky body, and his doors for his vehicle mode spread out over his shoulders like Hot Shot's did. He was blue, as were his eyes. His head was a dome, with four cylinders coming out of it, two to a side. He had two guns placed next to his head, along with flood lamps. His legs formed the front of his vehicle mode, an SUV. This was Ironhide, as loyal an Autobot as anyone. He was hotheaded, and very green. He still had much to learn about being a warrior.

"I admire your courage, Ironhide. You remind me of Hot Shot." Optimus complimented.

"You…you really think so?" Ironhide stammered.

"Of course. I don't throw compliments like that around freely." Optimus replied.

Just then, Inferno ran into the arena. Inferno was red. Bright red, like a firetruck, which he was in vehicle mode. He had a large plasma cannon on his arm. His face was a light blue, and his eyes were orange. Two plates on either side of his head served as a blast mask. Inferno was more of a computer specialist than a warrior, but he was ready to do anything Optimus asked of him. " Optimus, sir, we just received a report from Mars! They're under attack!" He said.

"What? Tell Jetfire to meet us at the space bridge! Ironhide, come with me! The rest of you are dismissed!" Optimus barked.

At the space bridge, Jetfire was waiting. Jetfire was an odd sort of space shuttle, more like a starfighter than anything in vehicle mode. He was a dark red, had no mouth, and one optical plate for his eyes.

"What's happening, Optimus, sir?" Jetfire asked.

"Mars City is under attack. We're going to help them." Optimus replied.

Ironhide, Inferno, Jetfire, and Optimus all transformed and headed through the space bridge. Shortly thereafter, they arrived at the ruins of Mars City.

On the moon, a lone Decepticon stood. He was black and white, most of him winter camouflage. He had two wrist blasters, and propellers and tail on his back for his vehicle mode, a helicopter. His face was orange, and his optics were green. This was Cyclonus, the second most mentally unstable of all Decepticons, and wondering when he's going to be able to kill something.

He'd heard about the attack on Mars City. "Ohhh, I can't wait until they get here!" he exclaimed in his high-pitched voice. "Will they attack here?" He pointed his wrist blaster in one direction. "Or here?" He pointed another direction. "Or maybe here?" He began to swing his guns around wildly. "Ohh, I can't wait! I'm tingling all over!" He began to cackle maniacally and fire his blasters every which way, until space responded with a storm of yellow blasterfire.

"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Cyclonus screamed has he was engulfed by the wave of weaponry.

Optimus and his group arrived on Mars, only to find the city in ruins.

"No…" Ironhide said.

"I'm not detecting any survivors. I am detecting, however, large amounts of Energon missing." Inferno said.

"Energon? But who would steal Energon? And why?" Optimus said.

Just then, Optimus' comlink beeped. The moon had just been hit. Earth was likely the next target.

"All right, Autobots! We have to get back to Earth. Our mystery attacker has just hit the moon, and he may just hit Earth next. Autobots, transform and rollout!" Optimus barked. The space bridge reopened, and the Autobots went through.

Hot Shot was racing to keep up with Kicker. "Slow down, willya!" Hot Shot cried.

Kicker suddenly stopped. His hair flashed yellow. Hot Shot pulled up next to him. "Something wrong, Kicker?" he asked.

Kicker looked up. "There! Do you see them?" he pointed.

Hot Shot transformed. "I don't see anything." He said.

Kicker pointed insistently. "There! Fire there!" he yelled.

"I don't see anything."

"Just do it!"

"Fine. I'm telling you, there's nothing there." Hot shot sighed. He raised his blaster and fired where kicker was pointing. Nothing. "See, nothing there."

"Well, you missed. Fire again!"

Hot Shot did so. This time, the area responded with a hail of blasterfire.

"Get back to the city!" Hot Shot yelled as he began to return fire.

The space bridge opened then, and Optimus and his men came through. They rolled up next to Hot Shot and transformed.

"Where did these things come from?" Optimus asked as he began firing back at the attacking Terrorcons.

"They came out of nowhere! Kicker sensed their approach before I saw them!" Hot Shot called back.

The Terrorcon Divebomb units deposited their Ravage units on the ground and all over the city. Demolishor stared stupidly as the Ravage units blasted through the door he was guarding.

"Demolishor! Don't just stand there, do something!" Ironhide yelled.

"Oh! Uh, right!" Demolishor stammered, and he began to blast the Ravage drones.

"I think we need more firepower! OP units, deploy!" Optimus shouted. He then leapt up into the air as the OP units flew to join him.

"Optimus Prime Super Mode transform!" Optimus shouted.

"Fire one, combine!" The orange fire unit combined with Optimus' arm.

"Copter two, combine!" The white copter unit combined with Optimus' other arm.

"Digger three, combine!" The yellow digger unit combined with Optimus' leg.

"Submarine four, combine!" The blue submarine combined with Optimus' other leg.

The halves of the battle helmet behind Optimus' head snapped into place over his normal face, and his chest compartment opened. "Optimus Prime Super Mode powerlink complete!"

Optimus began blasting away with his improved firepower. He then leapt into the air again and activated all of his gunports. "Energon Blast!" he shouted as lasers poured from his body in all directions, destroying everything they touched. Hundreds of Terrorcons were destroyed in the barrage. Optimus then noted Kicker was driving away with several Terrorcons on him. "I'll save you!" he shouted.

A shot from one of the Divebomb drones blasted Kicker off of his motorcycle. Optimus threw an energy orb at him. The orb struck, and encased Kicker in white armor, with the Autobot insignia on the chest. Kicker hit the ground then. The suit didn't stop that from hurting.

The remaining Terrorcons fled, seeing they were outmatched. Optimus and the other Autobots gathered around Kicker.

"Are you all right?" Optimus asked.

"Fine." Kicker snapped. "Like I needed your help anyway."

"You can thank your father for that suit. He made it especially for you. He knew you wouldn't listen to anyone, so that suit is made to protect you." Optimus said.

"I wouldn't need this suit if you bots weren't here."

"Pardon?"

"Humans have existed for thousands of years just fine before you bots had to stick your big noses into our business. We don't need you, and neither do I."

"Kicker, please. We're here now, and you may as well accept it. If we weren't here, who would have driven those bots off?" Optimus asked.

"Our military. We do have one, you know."

"Your military wouldn't be strong enough to repel these assaults. Besides, don't you see how much your society has matured since we arrived?"

Kicker said nothing.

"Come on. Let's go inside." Optimus said, and everyone filed back into the city.

Back within Unicron, Alpha Q marveled at the sight of the payload of Energon they had received. This wasn't nearly enough, but it was a start.

Alpha Q watched the events on Earth. His Green Head was showing. "Well, looks like we have failed on Earth." It said.

He rotated to the Happy Head. "Yes, but there are plenty of other Earth-Cybertron cities for us to raid."

The Angry Head rotated into view. "But where to strike next?"

The Green Head rotated into place. "Who knows? The more random we are, the less likely we are to be stopped."

The Angry head rotated in. "That should keep those mindless Autobots on their toes."

The Happy Head appeared. "At this rate, Unicron will be reactivated in no time!"

The heads began to spin rapidly. "And then we will have our planets!" they said. And Alpha Q was happy and excited, For they would soon be reunited with their planets.

_Not if Optimus has any say in this._ Unicron thought. He began building a backup plan, just in case he was destroyed. _Let's see what Optimus' next move will be. I only hope Alpha Q won't make any stupid mistakes._

Deep within Unicron, phantoms stirred. There was a wall with a figure stuck in it. This figure looked horribly damaged. Its two massive shoulders, which looked like treads, were heavily damaged. One of them had been completely ripped open. The colors had faded drastically, but a Decepticon insignia could be seen below the treads and on the chest. Its optics were inactive, and its large, ridged horns were eroded heavily. Within, its spark was barely active. It sensed Energon, and began to siphon some off for the body. This would help serve the spark's purpose nicely. This spark, the spark of Galvatron, became vaguely aware of his surroundings.


	2. Before the Storm

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 2: Before the Storm

Alpha Q sat alone in his chamber. His Energon raids had been successful until they attacked Earth. Optimus Prime had defeated them, and Alpha Q was beginning to rethink his strategy.

"This isn't good." The Green Head said.

"Just figure that out now?" The Angry Head said.

"With Optimus Prime in the way, Energon is going to be hard to steal." The Green Head stated.

"Unicron never said it would be easy." The Happy Head spoke.

"Optimus is strong. Too strong for our Terrorcons." Angry Head said.

"But what are we going to do? Not even the command units are strong enough to face him!" Happy Head wailed.

"We need something strong." Green Head.

"Something powerful." Angry Head.

"And something to command the Terrorcons better." Happy Head.

Alpha Q thought. They could not fight. They were not meant to fight. They looked through the creatures Unicron had consumed in his time. They came upon Galvatron.

"Perhaps Galvatron?" Green Head suggested.

"No, not him. We don't have the Energon to wake him." Angry Head said.

"Besides, he might try to overthrow us!" Happy Head exclaimed.

"Let's bring him back when we have more power to control him. What was the name of that one general we had, back on Planet Q?" Green Head asked.

"Wasn't it…ummmmm…" Alpha Q thought. A memory flashed, showing a green robot going down a shaft.

_NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SCORPONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!_ Alpha Q screamed in his thoughts.

"Scorponok." Alpha Q said. They returned to their chamber and set to work on rebuilding their new general.

Things weren't going so well on Earth. When word reached the Earth Council, they were outraged. They sent their representative to speak to Optimus.

"How do you know they had hostile intent?" Alexis asked. She and Optimus were seated at a conference table. The Autobots were assembled behind Optimus, including Kicker.

"That's a stupid question if I ever heard one." Jetfire muttered. A few chuckled.

"They shot at us. They destroyed Asteroid Base, Mars City, Lunar City, and attempted the same on Earth. They looted large amounts of Energon. If that isn't hostile intent, then I don't know what is." Optimus replied coolly.

"Did you try negotiating with their leader?" Alexis asked.

"I saw no discernable leader. It was a crapload of drones, to use a human term. Besides, I don't think they wanted to negotiate." Optimus replied.

"You do realize that you have broken the central law of our Constitution? You know, the one that says that "No Transformer shall harm another Transformer or ally"? The one you pushed so hard for?"

"She's got him there." Hot Shot said.

"So you'd rather we did nothing and let loads of Energon be taken and hundreds of civilians killed." Optimus stated.

Alexis paused. "No, but we…I…"

"If we didn't fight, we would have had another massacre like on Mars and all the other bases. I am ordering all civilians out of Ocean City and all other mining facilities, in case they are attacked as well. Tell the Earth Council that, as of this moment, war exists." Optimus rose to leave.

"They'll never stand for this. You know how uptight they are. Do you really want to see them get really mad?"

"War exists, Alexis. We didn't start it, but we will finish it." Optimus made for the door.

"Optimus, wait…"Alexis pleaded.

"This discussion is over." With that, Optimus left to relay his orders.

Alexis stared after him. "Optimus… This could kill us all."

Kicker jumped down from Ironhide's shoulder. "He's right, Alexis. They attacked us, and we acted in self-defense. If we knew who their leader was, we could negotiate. But we are fighting a foe that, as far as we know, has no leader."

Galvatron watched as Alpha Q slithered away. He had siphoned enough Energon to keep him aware of his immediate area, but no more. He could not believe what he had heard. They weren't going to awaken him? How dare they! They had no right to keep him imprisoned like this! He reached out to crush their life, then realized he was a statue. This only made him angrier. As murderous thoughts over this raced through his head, Galvatron realized that he was at their mercy. He needed them. This was odd. Galvatron had always felt that others needed him. He never needed others. He could do anything himself. This interesting turn served to make Galvatron even angrier. Then he realized that his anger was burning his precious Energon faster. He calmed down. It looked like he had to wait and see how things would turn out.

He hated waiting.

In deep space, several Terrorcons held the Decepticon, Tidal Wave, in their clutches. He had no idea where he was or where he was going. They had made a series of space bridge jumps all over the galaxy, and Tidal Wave was beginning to get bored. He looked to the side. Or what he assumed to be the side. It could be up for all he knew. Looking for familiar constellations to try to figure out where he was, he spotted another group of Terrorcons. They flew closer, and Tidal Wave could see they held Cyclonus.

"Cyclonus." Tidal Wave said.

Cyclonus' optics slowly activated. "Wha…what? Where am I?"

"No idea. Can't figure out, either." Tidal Wave said.

"Helpful." Cyclonus looked around. "Where do you think they're taking us?"

"Don't know either."

"Great." Cyclonus looked around. No familiar constellations. Slag. Looked like they were at the mercy of their captors.

The civilians were being evacuated from Ocean City. Optimus watched all of this through the monitor. Ironhide walked in.

"Sir, the Earth Council just contacted us again. They want to talk to you." Ironhide said.

Optimus sighed. Incredible. They hadn't stopped coming him since Alexis told them his message. He really didn't feel like taking to those blowhards. None of them had any military experience. They weren't military commanders. Of course, it didn't take a commander to know that when someone is shooting at you, you shoot back, and ask questions later.

"Fine. Put them through."

"Yes, sir."

The Council leader appeared on screen. "Optimus Prime! How dare you violate the Constitution like that! How DARE you presume to tell us our jobs! How DARE you…"

"I made a judgment call. You should learn to respect it by now." Optimus said.

"You have no right…"

"Sir…" Optimus was barely controlling his rage at this guy. Optimus had been alive longer than his ancestors had been around, and this guy was going to tell him his job? How dare HE! Optimus imagined stomping the leader's face into a jar. Much better. "I have been alive longer than most rocks on this planet. I have been doing this job for longer than humans have existed. I think, by now, I should know how to lead. YOU are the one that has no right to tell me my job."

"You are subordinate to this Council! You must respect my authority!" The leader shouted. He was turning red. Optimus would have smiled if he had a mouth.

"Too bad. This is war. MY authority surpasses yours in this case. I have no reason anymore to respect your authority." Optimus stated. He cut the link before the Council leader could reply. "I hate politicians." He said.

"Me too, sir." Ironhide said.

"Ironhide. Just the bot I need to see. I have decided to assign you a partner."

"Really? Like who? Hot Shot?" Ironhide asked excitedly.

"No. He already has a partner. I am assigning you to Kicker." Optimus said. He braced for the storm.

"WHAT! You're assigning me to that spoiled brat! Why?" Ironhide exploded.

"Because you two could learn a lot from each other."

"Yeah, like how to be a brat." Ironhide muttered.

"You remember I was talking about judgment calls?"

"Yes."

"This is one of them. Trust me, you two will get along great."

"Sure we will." Ironhide said, his voice soaked in sarcasm.

"Get going. Tell Kicker. I'm sure he'll be pleased." Optimus knew that Kicker's reaction would be similar to Ironhide's, but there was nothing they could do about it. His decision was final.

Alpha Q was watching as the liquid Energon began to take shape. They lifted the spark they found to the new body.

"Take this, Scorponok, and live." They said as they placed the spark in Scorponok's body. It solidified, and Scorponok's optics activated. "Scorponok." Alpha Q said.

Scorponok became aware. "Yes, sir." He replied.

"RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSEEEEE."

Scorponok lifted himself to his feet. He looked at his new body. Memories came flooding back to him. He knelt before Alpha Q. "What is it you require, sir?"

Alpha Q looked upon their creation that housed the mightiest Quintesson warrior ever. "Scorponok. We want you to bring us Energon. Lots of it. We wish to reactivate the one you now stand inside. He will give us back our planets." They said.

"As you wish." Scorponok turned to his assembled Terrorcon legions. "Come, my pets! Let's get that Energon!" He transformed and flew through the space bridge.

Galvatron saw Scorponok's creation and his departure for Earth. He could not decide whether this was good or bad. It was good, because Galvatron could feel that Scorponok was powerful. He knew that more Energon would come to Unicron now, and that meant more Energon for him. Bad, because Scorponok was powerful, and could kill him if he tried anything. Unless Galvatron got to him first. He decided to wait further. He didn't like it, but an opportunity might present itself. And that would be good.

Ironhide had just delivered the news of his partnership to Kicker. As Optimus thought, Kicker wasn't pleased.

"Is he insane! I don't need a partner! I don't even need you bots! What is he thinking?" Kicker raged.

"Yeah, I'm reeeal happy about this too. We have no choice but to follow Optimus' orders. We may as well try to get along." Ironhide said. "Let's start with why you hate us so much."

"Pfft. Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm your partner. I'm trying to get along with you, and you being stubborn doesn't help."

Kicker stormed off. "Why did Optimus decide to pair me up with him?" Ironhide said. He walked off.

Scorponok's forces emerged near where Cyclonus and Tidal Wave were being held. Scorponok flew up to the two.

"So, you are the Decepticons the advance force captured. I have an offer for you." Scorponok had been reviewing how he was going to propose his deal on the way here. He also thought of the deal on the way here.

"Only if that's to let us go!" Cyclonus shouted.

"No. I know where your leader is." Scorponok said.

Cyclonus paused. Tidal Wave spoke. "Where?"

"I will show you if you help me reactivate him."

"Why do you want to reactivate him?" Cyclonus asked.

"I could use his help. I need Energon, and I want him to help." Scorponok said.

"What makes you think he'll help you?" Cyclonus asked.

"I have an army he will need. I an help him conquer the universe."

"Can Galvatron be reactivated?" Tidal Wave asked.

"Yes, with enough Energon. You can help me get it."

Cyclonus thought for a moment. "We want to see him first."

"Very well. Terrorcons, take them to Galvatron." Scorponok ordered.

As the two Decepticons were taken away, Scorponok sincerely hoped his plan worked. He transformed and resumed course for Earth.

Optimus watched the Autobot reinforcements arrive and assemble on the landing pad. They were arriving at every city on Earth. Whoever attacked them would not dare try it again. He felt sad. He had peace for so long, only to have it stripped away again. He saw Inferno approaching. If it was the Earth Council calling again to complain about him massing troops, then he would simply have to tell them to kiss his tailpipe. He was not going to get anything done with them bugging him constantly.

"Sir, the Council called. They have agreed to defer authority to you in this time of war." Inferno reported.

If Optimus was drinking something, he would have spewed it all over the viewport. "They have? This is new." He said.

"Well, sir, now we can do whatever is necessary to protect this planet." Inferno said.

"Good. I hope this is over soon." Optimus said. He continued to stare out at the armies. For some reason, he had a feeling things were about to go from bad to worse.

Alpha Q saw Scorponok mobilizing his army to Earth. This was the test, to see how well they had done.

"This is it." Green Head said.

"The board is set." Angry Head said.

"The pieces are moving." Green Head said.

"And soon, we will have all the Energon we will need to reactivate Unicron and get our planets back." Happy Head said.

"All Energon will be used for his rebirth!" Alpha Q exclaimed.

Galvatron saw the same thing as Alpha Q. It was time to see what this Scorponok could do. He noted the approach of footsteps.

"Where is he? Scorponok said he'd be here." Galvatron recognized that as the voice of Cyclonus.

A pair of yellow optics looked at him. "There he is." The voice of Tidal Wave said.

This was good. Two of his soldiers were here to help him. But where was Demolishor? Last time Galvatron checked, Demolishor was still alive. Knowing that brainless oaf, he would have joined the Autobots to save his own skin. In fact, that's probably what these two did. Worthless. Of course, Galvatron had no room to complain. It wasn't like he had the vast Decepticon Army to count on at the moment.

"Galvatron, sir? Are you alive?" Cyclonus asked.

"Yes, Cyclonus." Galvatron said from his perch in the wall. "I am alive."


	3. The Invasion of Earth Part 1: Battle for

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 3: The Invasion of Earth Part 1: Battle for Desert City

Scorponok surveyed his handiwork. He'd been raiding Autobot Energon depots for some time now, building his army. These stations were unmanned, making them perfect targets. He'd need large numbers if his plan was to succeed. Besides, this helped Alpha Q keep everything running smoothly inside Unicron. If everything went according to plan, Earth would belong to them, and they could harvest as much Energon as they wanted. Scorponok smiled. This was going to be good.

Within Unicron, Alpha Q viewed Earth. They saw that the Autobots had been massing their forces there for some time. If Scorponok's plan failed, they would lose a tremendous piece of their army. If he won, the Autobots would have been dealt a crushing blow, leaving Earth wide open for occupation. Either way, there would be much loss on both sides.

"We have placed our trust in you, Scorponok, as well as our best chance to revive Unicron. We hope you are up to the task." They said.

Elsewhere within Unicron, Galvatron saw what Alpha Q did. He didn't like it. That was a massive number of Autobots. Even he would have trouble dealing with that. Well, If Scorponok won, Galvatron would have enough Energon to fully reawaken himself in a brand new body. He would then take over Unicron and use him to destroy the remaining Autobots. And then, the Universe would kneel before the mighty Galvatron. Oh, how he longed for that day, the day Optimus died, and he, Galvatron, would stand unopposed as supreme ruler of the cosmos.

But then, if Scorponok lost, the Terrorcon army would be depleted to nothing. Galvatron could take the rest of the Energon in Unicron, awaken, and go get the rest himself. Either way, he won.

Unicron himself observed these events. He was not blind to the Energon thief, Galvatron. Even if Galvatron took over Unicron, he would still need to feed him to fully reawaken him. And by then, he could crush Galvatron with not much more than a thought. He decided to let it go, and watch the show.

It should be interesting.

Optimus Prime's men had gathered in the briefing room. Optimus was nowhere to be seen. Autobot soldiers had been arriving from Cybertron for some time now.

"Does anyone know what this is about?" Hot Shot asked.

"Nope. It must have something to do with he reinforceements we've been receiving." Inferno said.

"Optimus expects something. Something big." Jetfire said.

"What, an invasion of Earth? I'd like to see our mystery attacker try. With Optimus around, nobody can beat us!" Ironhide said.

"I wish I had your confidence." Inferno said.

"Well, Optimus is a strong leader. But we know nothing about our enemy, or where they'll strike next, or even how many in number they are. Optimus is preparing for the worst. I even hear he assigned my dad to work on something to protect Earth. Don't worry guys. We'll get through this." Kicker said.

Optimus walked in the door and strode to his seat. "Sit down. I have a lot to talk about." he said.

The Autobots followed. "I called you here to explain the reason for calling reinforcements to Earth." Optimus began.

"I knew it." Inferno muttered.

"Pat yourself on the back later." Jetfire whispered to Inferno.

Optimus continued. "In light of the recent attacks on Autobot-Earth cities by our unknown attacker, I have seen fit to increase the ranks in these cities. All civilian personnel have been evacuated, and our military defenses are being brought online. These cities will become fortresses from which we will conduct the war.

"However, I have an instinct. It's telling me that the enemy is even now massing for a full-scale invasion of Earth."

Everyone stared at Optimus in shock. Hot Shot was the first to speak. "But, that can't be! Not even the Decepticons dared to fully invade Earth!"

"It's just a feeling, Hot Shot. Considering we know nothing about our enemy, I don't think this is out of their power. There's a human saying. It goes, 'Better safe than sorry.' It makes reference to the fact that it's better to be prepared for anything and be safe than not to prepare and be sorry you didn't." Optimus said.

"It's still just a feeling, sir. They sometimes can't be trusted. What if the enemy decides to attack Cybertron? With most of the military here, Cybertron won't stand a chance." Inferno said.

"I left enough of the military there to cover it thoroughly. Nobody's taking Cybertron." Optimus reassured Inferno. "Now, I have assignments for all of you. Each of the teams I have assigned are going to take command of the garrison at one of the cities. You will meet up with the current commander there and you will assist him as needed. Here are your assignments:

"Hot Shot and Inferno will take command at Jungle City. You are to meet up with Commander Kickback. He may have some assignments for you when you get there. If you have any legitimate problems, contact me."

"Yes, sir!" Hot Shot and Inferno said at once.

"Jetfire is to remain here with me. I am the garrison commander, so just wait here."

"You got it." Jetfire said.

"Ironhide and Kicker, you are to report to Desert City. You will meet up with Commander Wingdecker. As I said to Hot Shot and Inferno, if you have any problems, contact me."

"Uh, sir?" Ironhide started.

"If you are questioning whether Kicker should be your partner or not, I suggest you stow it. I don't want to hear it. Kicker is your partner. There are battle suits there that he can use."

"Optimus, those battle suits haven't even been tested! I might explode!" Kicker exclaimed.

"Dr. Jones assures me they work. His assurance is good enough for me. Besides, you can test them yourself when you get there." Optimus said. "You have your orders, men! Rollout!"

Cyclonus and Tidal Wave knelt before Galvatron.

"What is your order, sir?" Tidal Wave asked.

"I sense that Scorponok is preparing for his invasion. Go to where he is massing his fleets. Hide aboard one of the supply vessels. Make sure no one sees you. When I command you, you will take over the ship and deliver it to me. Give me all the Energon on board. It should be enough to complete my transformation." Galvatron said.

"Scorponok has many units and fleets to see us. It won't be easy." Cyclonus said.

"I never said it would be. Now go. I have things to do. Oh, and while you're at it, see if you can locate Demolishor. I need as many of my men as I can get." Galvatron ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Cyclonus and Tidal Wave said. They ran off.

At last, Galvatron had peace. Now was a good time to start getting ready for the aftermath of the invasion. His Glorious Rebirth would be soon.

Even he, Galvatron, knew of the prophecy of the Glorious Rebirth. It was a Decepticon legend that said that, one day, the Decepticon leader would sacrifice himself to save their world, and be reborn from his destroyer much later, greater and more terrible than any other Decepticon before. His rule would be absolute. Galvatron never thought he'd be the one to fulfill it. But then, the prophecy was made back when Maximus Deceptica, the first Decepticon leader, and the namesake for their empire.Then he was assasinated, and the next leader knew this prophecy and hoped he would be the one to fulfill it. The leaders since then thought they would complete it, but Galvatron thought it was complete bull. He never paid attention to it, but now he was fulfilling it. How ironic.

Scorponok looked at his assembled legions. His first wave of Terrorcons stretched as far as his optics could read. Phase one would soften the defenses up, then phase two would be the final attack, crushing the Autobots and leaving Earth open for Alpha Q to take all the Energon.

"Lord Scorponok." a black Battle Ravage drone approached Scorponok.

"Yes, General Ravage?" Scorponok replied.

"The Desert City invasion force is ready to move. We await your command." Ravage said.

"I'm waiting for the other commanders to report in. Then Phase One will commence." Scorponok said.

As if on cue, three more Terrorcon commanders appeared. One was a red Battle Ravage drone, and the other two were Divebomb drones, one red, one brown.

"Sir! General Frenzy, reporting in! The Ocean City invasion force is ready to move at your command!" the red Battle Ravge commander said.

"General Laserbeak reporting the Plain City invasion force is ready to move!" The red Divebomb commander reported.

"General Ratbat reporting the readiness of the Jungle City invasion force, sir!" the brown Divebomb commander said.

"Very well. You all know what to do. Get moving." Scorponok ordered. With that, the commanders took point of their respective battle forces and departed, leaving Scorponok with the Phase Two fleet. Scorponok smiled. This would be a glorious day.

Cyclonus and Tidal Wave saw the massive Phase One fleets depart. If that was the softening force, the fleet they were infiltrating could take over the galaxy.

"Sheesh! Hasn't Scorponok ever heard of overkill?" Cyclonus said.

"Quiet. We still need to infiltrate the transports." Tidal Wave lectured.

"If you know what they look like, point them out." Cyclonus said.

Tidal Wave looked around at the mass of ships. It was impossible to tell what was what, but there were long ships, brisling with guns, that most likely were warships. There were large, dome-shaped ships which Tidal Wave assumed were mobile fortresses, and there were ships in the shape of the Divebomb drone, except a hundred times larger. This was likely a dropship. Tidal Wave was amazed. You could literally conquer the galaxy with a fleet like this. He looked further. He saw what looked like large boxes. These were most likely the Energon transports Galvatron was talking about. That could easily hold enough Energon to revive Galvatron, and then some.

"Cyclonus, over here! I see the transports!" Tidal Wave called out.

"How do you know?" Cyclonus asked.

"Because it's the most likely looking ship. Let's go." Tidal Wave said.

"Oh, all right." Cyclonus said, and flew off with Tidal Wave to the blocky ships.

Once Tidal Wave and Cyclonus arrived, they cut a hole into the hull and slipped inside. Cyclonus sealed the hole after them. "Well, we're in. Where's the bridge?" he asked.

"Up. I saw a spire coming from the top." Tidal Wave said.

"All right. Let's hide near there, so we can take the ship over quicker." Cyclonus said. The two moved through the ship as quietly as they could, hoping that this worked.

Wingdecker was reading over the status reports when Ironhide and Kicker entered. He turned. "Welcome to Desert City! You must be Irnhide, and the human on your shoulder would be Kicker." he greeted cordially.

"Hi. You did get our names right. You must be Commander Wingdecker." Ironhide said.

"I am indeed Wingdecker. Optimus told me to expect you." Wingdecker replied.

"Optimus also told us that you might have some jobs for us." Ironhide said.

"Ah, yes. Ironhide, I need you to brief some new recruits on what's been happening." He handed Ironhide a datapad. "That's all you should need to know. Give them a summary. The duty roster is there, also. After the briefing, hand out the assignments. After that, report back."

"Um, sir, I...uh..." Ironhide stammered.

"Oh, you're a recruit yourself. Well, just give it a go. You'll do fine." Wingdecker said. He turned to Kicker. "Kicker, I need you to go locate the battle suits and get accustomed to their use. You're probably going to the front when the enemy arrives, and I want you to know how to use those things. Come back when you know what you're doing." he said.

Kicker sighed. "Yes, sir."

"Once your jobs are done, we'll have lunch. I like to get to know my men before I fight alongside them." Wingdecker said.

"All right!" Ironhide exclaimed.

"You have your jobs. Go to them." Wingdecker said.

"Yes, sir!" Irnhide and Kicker said.

Once away from the office, Ironhide turned to Kicker. "Commander Wingdecker seems like a nice guy. You think so, Kicker?" he asked.

"Yeah. I guess." Kicker said.

"What's wrong?" Ironhide asked.

"I've just always seen you Transformers as just some alien race who was here just to babysit us. I never saw the need for your help. We would have discovered Energon and learned how to use it ourselves. But I think that our mystery attacker is more powerful than anything humanity could combat alone. You guys really seem to want to help us." Kicker explained.

"Well, if humanity didn't want our help, we would have respected that. Autobots respect other people's choices, and we're always there for our allies. We take alliances seriously." Ironhide said.

"Well… Thanks. I mean it." Kicker said.

Kicker, Ironhide, and Wingdecker met up for lunch in the underground cafeteria. Kicker sat on the table, while Ironhide and Wingdecker were seated opposite each other, swapping war stories.

"…so then, the Decepticons come out of nowhere. We're trapped in the bottom of a valley, and we know we won't survive this. Then, the Decepticons start exploding all around us. Turns out, Ultra Magnus was hiding, waiting for the Decepticons to make a mistake. We took them all out so quick it was like we were in a time warp." Wingdecker said.

"Wow. Your stories are amazing, Wingdecker!" Ironhide complimented. "I haven't seen much combat yet. The price of being green, I guess."

"Don't worry. You'll get your chance. Decepticons have a nasty habit of coming back when you least expect them to." Wingdecker said.

A steady rumbling was heard. Suddenly, the comm was alive with the sounds of combat. "kshhshhhhhhhhsssshhhhhThey're everywhere! I can't kkkssssssssssshhhhhhh Driveway, wake up! kkkkkkkkkkksssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh Medic!ksssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

"We've got to get up there!" Wingdecker exclaimed.

"Right! Kicker, go get that battle suit!" Ironhide said.

The door buckled inward. "Right, I'll go alone through hordes of Terrorcons, get the suit, and come back. That'll work." Kicker said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Wingdecker sighed. "Is he always like this?"

"Yup." Ironhide replied.

"All right, let's go get that suit. Then, we'll make a command post there. We'll assess the situation, and make our way to the surface. Any questions?" Wingdecker explained.

"I have a suggestion. I vote we just head for the surface." Kicker said.

"I second that." Ironhide said.

"But..." Wingdecker sighed. "All right. We probably don't have time for that anyway. Let's move!"

Wingdecker, Ironhide, and Kicker stealthily made their way through the base. They dropped into the main lobby from the Energon fuel lines. The lobby was empty.

"Empty? What's going on?" Ironhinde asked.

Suddenly, the radio came alive. "The Terrorcons are defeated! We win!" the bot on the other end said.

Kicker's hair flashed yellow. "It's not over. We need to get to the surface." He said. The group made their way to the surface, and saw that the invasion had only begun.

The sky was filled with ships. The Earth Federation capital ships were fighting Scorponok's warships. The hawk-shaped troop transports began to set down in the distance, as well as very close to the base. The Energon transports hung back, well protected by the warships. Divebomb drones, Federation fighters, and aerial Autobots held a massive dogfight in the sky. Bright flashes of laserfire flicked between the ships. It would have been beautiful if it didn't mean that Earth was being invaded by a ruthless Transformer hell-bent on conquering Earth to take its Energon.

Everyone stared dumbstruck at the battle. Kicker's three words summed up their feelings nicely: "Mother of God…"


	4. The Invasion of Earth Part 2

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 4: The Ivasion of Earth part 2

Wingdecker, Ironhide, and Kicker surveyed the battle going on in the skies. Massive battlecruisers duked it out in the skies, while fighters flitted about like flies in an aerial dance of death. Smoke rose from the skies.

"No..." Ironhide said.

"We've got to contact Optimus!" Wingdecker exclaimed. As if on cue, Optimus' voice came over the radio.

"Attention all surviving Autobots! This is Optimus Prime. If you can hear me, you are ordered to report to Ocean City immediately if you are able. If you are trapped, establish a fortification and hold out as long as you can. We will come for you. Repeat, all avaliable Autobots are to report to Ocean City on the double. All those pinned down are to establish a fortification and hold out until someone comes to rescue you. Optimus out."

"You heard the man! Let's get going!" Ironhide exclaimed.

Back in Unicron, Scorponok knelt before Alpha Q.

"The invasion goes well, my lord. The first wave did better than expected, and survives even now. The second wave has arrived, and is laying waste to everything they see. Victory is assured!" Scorponok said.

"Excellent. Come, Scorponok. We have a reward for you." Alpha Q said.

They moved deeper into Unicron, to where Galvatron sat. His Decepticon insignia began to glow, and Alpha Q reached for it. He grasped something, and pulled it out.

Scorponok was awestruck with the magnificence of Galvatron's sword. The blade cast an emerald glow on the walls, andd its hilt was a deep violet. A silver Decepticon emblem was blazoned in the center of the hilt.

"It's… beautiful!" Scorponok said.

"This blade is the most powerful ever made. No fortress can withstand its power." Alpha Q explained. He handed it to Scorponok. "Use it well."

"I plan to, my lord. I plan to." Scorponok marveled.

Galvatron watched the proceedings. Alpha Q had just stolen his most prized possession! How dare he! He will die a thousand deaths for this theft! Galvatron dearly wanted to smash that four-headed freak into a million pieces. He checked on Cyclonus and Tidal Wave. They made it aboard the Energon transport, but it had yet to be loaded. Galvatron wished this operation would hurry. He needed to execute Alpha Q as soon as he was able.

Optimus looked at the battle monitors. Jungle City was doing fairly well, Plain City was being annihilated, and Desert City looked about the same. Ocean City was being sieged. It was submerged when the invasion hit, and the enemy commander wanted it to stay that way. They couldn't surface without Terrorcons overrunning the base before defenses were brought online. Recalling the available units served to provide cover for the city resurfacing. Optimus also called in any Federation ships in the area to help. He would need all the help they could get.

"Optimus, sir. We've got reports of survivors in all cities. Hot Shot and Inferno report that no one from Jungle City can be spared, so they are trying to establish a defensive perimeter. We got a signal from Commander Wingdecker, Ironhide, and a battle suit we assume to be Kicker. The rest of the base is assumed to be dead. Plain City has reports of scattered survivors, who are trying to regroup and establish some kind of defense." Jetfire reported.

"Thank you, Jetfire. Do I want to hear the casualty report?" Optimus asked.

"Uh… Probably not. I'll tell you when this is over." Jetfire answered.

"Good idea." If Optimus could shed tears, he probably would be doing it right now. He made a vow to the people of Earth that the Autobots would protect them. He swore that no invader would take their planet from them. Now, Optimus saw cities burning, people fleeing in the streets from the Terrorcon onslaught. Some tried to fight back, but were massacred by the Terrorcons. Not even the women or children were spared. As if that wasn't enough, Earth's soldiers were fighting the invaders in the skies, and losing. Every time Optimus looked, a Federation vessel would burst into flame, or a fighter would erupt in a fireball as blasterfire tore it open. His very own men had been slaughtered in the initial wave. Then the metal monstrosities appeared, and life as the humans knew it was over. Optimus could imagine the parents trying to comfort their crying children. The children, trying to comfort their parents, telling them that the Autobots would save them, not knowing that the Autobots themselves were being slaughtered. Optimus was their last hope for defeating this invasion.

Ironhide, Kicker, and Wingdecker ran towards a landed troop transport. If they could hijack that, then they could get to Ocean City and help Optimus. They reached the door, and Ironhide blew it open. He stepped inside and began to blast at the assembled Terrorcons, spraying laserfire everywhere. Wingdecker rolled in next, blasters at the ready, and began firing, killing a Terrorcon with each hit. Kicker leapt in next, pounding heavy blaster bolts into everything that moved. After a few minutes, the room was clear.

"All right. Let's find a computer terminal so we can find the bridge." Wingdecker said. "Disperse, and keep your optics active."

They searched the hangar, and found nothing but an elevator.

"Well, if we use this, we should be able to get to the bridge. From there, we can contact Optimus and tell him we're coming." Ironhide said.

"Provided we can fly this thing." Kicker said.

"Where there's a will, there's a way." Ironhide replied.

"Got that right. Move out!" Wingdecker ordered. The group boarded the elevator and headed for the bridge.

Cyclonus was sleeping when the ship shook. "zzzz…hungh! Whazzat?" he said groggily.

"We have landed." Tidal Wave said.

"Great. Now, let's take the bridge!" Cyclonus said.

"No. We need the Energon first." Tidal Wave said.

"Oh."

"Wait. We need Demolishor, as well."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about him!" Cyclonus exclaimed.

"You go get him. I will take the ship when necessary." Tidal Wave said.

"You going to be okay here, by yourself?"

"Yes. Go."

"Right." Cyclonus left the closet and headed out of the ship. They had landed near Ocean City, but the city was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Tidal Wave. The city isn't here."

"Yes it is. It is underwater. Wait for it to come up." Tidal Wave said.

"Right." Cyclonus made his way to a nearby forest and hid.

After a few blasts, the bridge of the dropship was cleared. Ironhide took the helm, Wingdecker took the commander's chair, and Kicker took weapons. They spent a minute getting used to the controls.

"All right, Ironhide. Take us out. Kicker, get the weapons warmed up. We're going to help the Federation." Wingdecker said.

The ship rose from the ground. It wobbled a bit, then steadied. It rose into the air.

"Kicker, lock on to the nearest enemy cruiser." Wingdecker ordered.

"Gotcha." Kicker set his sights on the nearest ship. "Target locked on."

"Fire."

The dropship poured firepower into the capital ship. The capital ship shook and began to break apart. The combined firepower of the dropship and the Federation ship shattered the enemy ship like glass. A mobile fortress beared down on them.

"Kicker! Lock all guns on that mobile fortress!" Wingdecker looked at the fortress. He saw the engines near the bottom. "Target the engines! Also, feed those orders to the Federation ship!"

"Got it." Kicker locked all guns on target, then fed the coordinates to the Federation ship. "They acknowledge."

"Fire!" Wingdecker ordered.

The lances of green from the Federation ship mixed with the bolts of yellow from the dropship. They mixed at the bottom, tearing a hole in the fortress. After a minute of drilling, the bottom of the fortress erupted in flame. The fortress crashed into the ground and was consumed by a mighty fireball. The group on the bridge cheered.

"All right! Ironhide, take us to Ocean City with all deliberate speed!" Wingdecker ordered.

"Nothing like a little precision teamwork, eh?" Ironhide asked.

"And that was nothing like a little precision teamwork!" Kicker exclaimed.

The ship soared off toward Ocean City.

Cyclonus had been waiting into the night for Ocean City to rise. Suddenly, a dropship flew in and blasted apart a cruiser. It swiveled and destroyed two other dropships.

"Finally. Now maybe I can go get Demolishor." Cyclonus activated the secret Decepticon comm. frequency. "Hey, Demolishor, are you there?"

Demolishor was waiting in the rec room when the call came through. It was on the secret Decepticon frequency. "What the?" Demolishor wondered aloud. He got over his shock and cautiously said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Demolishor, what's up? It's Cyclonus!"

"Cyclonus! I heard you were killed on the moon!" Demolishor exclaimed.

"Nope. I'm alive and kicking! I'm sitting here outside Ocean City, waiting for it to surface. We need you to come with us."

"What? Why? And who's 'we'?"

"'We' being me and Tidal Wave! We got orders from Galvatron to steal an Energon transport for him and go get you!"

"Steal an Ener…Wait, did you say Galvatron ordered you to do this?"

"Yeah. Galvatron's alive, and he's making a comeback! He needs his best men and lots of Energon to fully reawaken. Surface the city, if you can, then join us. I'll signal to you."

"G-G-G-Galvatron's ALIVE!"

"Yeah. You gonna help or not?"

"Uhh…." This was it. The moment Demolishor had been waiting for for ten years. He'd imagined that he would kill Optimus and rejoin the Decepticons as a hero. He had imagined that he would go without a second thought. But now that the moment came, Demolishor wasn't sure he wanted to go through with this. Galvatron had always treated his men like dirt, but wasn't blind to their accomplishments. Rewards for the loyal were great, and punishments for the disloyal were also great. The Autobots had been so good to him. Under Galvatron, he had received beatings almost daily. Under the Autobots, he hadn't been beaten ever. The Autobots tried to understand him, Galvatron just wanted him to do his job well. Yeah, he didn't get much to shoot at, but that was compensated for by the way the Autobots treated him, regardless of the way he treated them. He even felt guilty for that now. The Autobots were his friends.

But then, so was Cyclonus…

"Well!" Cyclonus interrupted Demolishor's thoughts.

"Um… Optimus is in the control room. I can't surface the city without him noticing." Any excuse sounded good to Demolishor. All he wanted right now was to go hide someplace and think about his choice.

"So? Shoot him. You don't need to kill him, just knock him out, raise the city, then leave." Cyclonus pushed.

The city rumbled. "Actually, I think the city is surfacing anyway." Demolishor said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Get out of there. I'll signal to you when you get outside." Cyclonus said. He cut the link.

Demolishor looked lost. "I…I just don't know what I am anymore." He stumbled toward a chair and sat. He had a lot to think about. Galvatron would certainly kill him if he didn't rejoin the Decepticons, but if he did, the Autobots would kill him. It was just a matter of when he was going to die. Demolishor put his head in his hands. Neither choice looked good.

The dropship under Autobot control swooped among the assembled ships, blasting at them. The dropships dropped like flies, but the warships dished out enough punishment to bring the ship to the edge of annihilation.

Smoke poured from the shattered consoles. Wingdecker waved the smoke away from him. "Damage report!" he ordered as another volley of blasterfire rocked the ship.

"The hull has been compromised! Weapons are barely online, and engines are ready to go supercritical!" Ironhide shouted from his post.

"In other words, this ship is a dead stick!" Kicker shouted. He looked at a nearby mobile fortress. He got an idea. "Ironhide, divert all power to engines! Set course for that mobile fortress!"

"But we'll hit it if we do that!" Ironhide shouted.

"That's the point! Do it!"

"I give the orders here, Kicker!" Wingdecker shouted angrily.

"Then give that order!" Kicker replied.

Wingdecker sighed. "You heard him, Ironhide. Everyone, prepare to evacuate."

A shot nailed the bridge, smashing the front viewport open. The ship sped on. Ironhide noticed a shape forming in the ocean.

"What the…? Is that Ocean City?" he asked.

Ocean City began to surface.

The drone commander Frenzy saw these events. He knew that that dropship was stolen from the Desert City area. That meant that Ravage had failed. Hopefully dead. But then, Ravage never liked being on the front lines. Frenzy was there as much as he could be. Well, he would certainly have the most glory from this battle. He would crush Optimus Prime personally. Maybe get a few upgrades.

The comm behind him buzzed. Frenzy answered it. It was Scorponok. "What is it you require, sir?" Frenzy asked.

"I am coming to Ocean City. You may crush all the Autobots you like, just leave Optimus for me." Scorponok said.

"As you wish." Frenzy said. _Whatever you say, sir. I really doubt you will object when he lies dead at your feet, crushed by my hand, _Frenzy thought.

_Soon. Oh, so soon._ Galvatron thought from his perch inside Unicron. He could feel his power growing, and Unicron weakening. That would soon be rectified, as Galvatron would be free, and he would let Unicron gorge himself on all the Energon in the universe.

Unicron watched these events unfold. He liked how Galvatron was thinking. Of course, he would have to kill Galvatron at some point, but that would be a small matter, once he was reactivated. However, he didn't want to underestimate Galvatron. He did that with Optimus Prime ten years ago, and it didn't turn out as he had planned. He did that with Rodimus Prime before Optimus, and he became a floating head from that. He'd learned his lesson. He was not going to underestimate them.

Alpha Q kept watch over the invasion and not much else. Every major city on Earth was burning. The death toll was catastrophic, numbering somewhere in the billions. And that was just the human casualties. Some millions of Autobots had been diverted to Earth, and most of them were dead. The rest were pinned down. Of course, the Autobots had put up a good fight, as had the pesky Earth Federation. _They must be the cockroaches of the Universe, _Alpha Q thought. It was true. They had survived two world wars and held the capability of annihilating themselves and all their knowledge for some time. Then the Autobots showed up. Many humans would survive this massacre, even if the Autobots didn't. They had to be given credit for that. Besides, once the Autobots were vanquished and the Earth Federation in ruins, the humans really were just that: cockroaches. No real threat, just a minor annoyance.

Ocean City had risen. And Demolishor was still in the rec room, thinking. _I can't believe this. Ten years of nothing, then Galvatron just comes back? Yeah, right. A likely story. Besides, the Autobots treat me better than Galvatron ever did._ The side of Demolishor that wanted to stay with the Autobots thought.

_But Galvatron gave you every chance at combat. He abused you to make you stronger. "Only the strong survive", and all that. Starscream challenged Galvatron frequently, and lost. Why? Starscream was too weak. If he couldn't take out Galvatron, he didn't deserve to lead. Joining Galvatron again will make you strong. The Autobots have weakened you. _Decepticon Demolishor whispered.

_War does not make one great. Galvatron is strong, yes. The reason Optimus wins more often is because he fights to protect, not to conquer. He values peace. _Autobot Demolishor whispered.

_The Autobots are weak. They will lose. You know it. _Decepticon Demolishor reminded.

_Galvtron's tyranny will inevitably fall. He will die. Peace and freedom will win out in the end. Those who value it will destroy him. Such is the fate of tyrants._

_Galvatron may die, but as long as there is good in the universe, there will always be evil. It is unavoidable. With each victory of good, it is evil that wins. Even Optimus has a dark side. Everyone does. People like Galvatron have chosen to embrace it, and they are stronger for it. Evil is a path to power beyond your wildest imaginings. A few, a very few, can attain infinite power from this. Fewer still try to take it. Galvatron is one of them. He defies his inner doubts and embraces the darkness within his spark. He dares to reach for the unlimited power that the darkness of evil holds. Do you dare?_

_No! Evil's power is tempting, but its powers result in the inevitable destruction of the user. It does indeed hold great power, but that power is fleeting. Look at Optimus. He basks in the light, wraps himself in the good nature of his spark. He is driven to help, and he wields great power by doing so. And his power is lasting, as he inspires his men to follow him. They would die for him._

_The only reason evil has failed against the good is because no one has obtained its true power. Many have delved deeply into darkness, and returned with power beyond what most beings can imagine. But all that power has limits. There is a place, a secret, deep within the darkness. Deeper than any have ever dared venture. Maximus Deceptica could have gone farther than he did. He could have gone to the very core, and learned the secret to unlocking the infinite power of the dark. But he didn't, because he was afraid. Afraid of the dark, the dark that swallows the unworthy whole, leaving them a broken shell of their former selves. Galvatron, though…_

_Galvatron could do it. With that power, he will crush the Autobots like insects. And you with them._

_So, whose side will you join?_


	5. IoE 3: Showdown

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 5: The Invasion of Earth Part 3: Showdown

The Space Bridge opened, and a long, sleek starship exited. It slid into orbit with Earth. On the bridge, Scorponok surveyed his handiwork.

"It's beautiful." He commented as he watched the Earth burn. He could see his cruisers smashing down the Earth Federation vessels, weapon fire lancing from both sides like little multicolored lightningbugs. He could see masses of darkness. He knew they were his Terrorcons engaging the pathetic resistance of the Federation and the Autobots. He could not see Ocean City, but that was of no concern. With the other three cities under his control, there would be more than enough Energon to revive Unicron.

Out o the corner of his optics, he saw a small bubbling on the surface. It looked like Ocean City was joining the fray. Excellent. Scorponok strode to the door, picking up Galvatron's-or rather, his- sword. He would kill Optimus himself.

Optimus stood at the entrance to Ocean City in Super Mode. The gate was about to open, with the rumored commander of this assault among them. Intercepted enemy comm. chatter identified him as Frenzy. Optimus swore that this would be Frenzy's last battle.

Jetfire came up beside Optimus. "Any idea what's waiting for us out there?" he asked.

"Loads of Terrorcons. Ready?" Optimus replied.

"Born that way." Jetfire stated. Both bots readied their guns.

The gate slid open, and the Terrorcons wasted no time pouring in. Optimus, Jetfire, and the rest of the Autobot garrison met them head on and began firing, Optimus and Jetfire leading the charge. They did not notice a winter camouflage helicopter enter the base.

Cyclonus flew through the bowels of Ocean City. "Demolishor! Oh, Demolishor! Where are you?" he called out.

"In here." Demolishor replied from the rec room.

Cyclonus flew in and transformed. "Great! Let's go, before the Autobots all die!"

"I…uhhh…" Demolishor stammered.

"Come on! You're not still having second thoughts, are you?" Cyclonus exclaimed.

"Well, what if this is all a hoax? What if Galvatron can't be brought back to life?"

"He can! Tidal Wave and I spoke to him before we left. He said to get a transport full of Energon and take it to him. He's coming back, ready or not!"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! Come on, let's get back to the transport!"

Demolishor stood for a moment, thinking. He was about to side with the Autobots when a whisper crawled through his hard drive:

_Galvatron will be more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Do you really want to oppose him?_

"Well?" Cyclonus asked.

Demolishor was snapped out of his thoughts. "Right, let's go!" The pair ran to the transport.

Hotshot cut down yet another Terrorcon. The battle in Jungle City had been raging for thirty hours straight. The fatigue was starting to wear him down. He looked at the battle around him. So far, they had managed to keep the Terrorcons from entering the city itself. Hotshot knew that it would only be a matter of time until the fight moved into the city. He had set several bots in the control room to the task of finding the enemy commander. So far, they had had no luck.

"Commander Hotshot, sir!" Hotshot recognized this voice as that of one of the bots he assigned to the control room.

Hotshot blasted another Terrorcon into slag. "What is it?"

"Sir, we've found the enemy commander, and he's headed your way!"

Hotshot grimaced. "Wonderful." He returned to blasting Terrorcons.

One Terrorcon snuck up behind Hotshot and was promptly blasted by Inferno. "Need a hand?" he called out.

"Definitely. Aren't you supposed to be at the western gate?" Hotshot replied.

"We can hold out indefinitely there. I came over to see how you were doing here!" Inferno said as he threw a Terrorcon into another, sending both off a cliff.

"I got word the enemy commander's headed this way. What do you say to Powerlinking?" Hotshot suggested, blasting another Terrorcon into spare parts.

"Sounds good. Hotshot or Inferno?" Inferno replied.

"Let's go with Inferno. Heavier weapons."

"Let's get to it, then!"

Hotshot transformed into a pair of legs, while Inferno turned into a heavy weapons platform with a head. They merged and formed into Powerlinx Inferno.

Inferno blasted a cluster of Terrorcons into vapor. "Ahh, the sugar-sweet kiss of heavy ordnance." He set to work smashing more Terrorcons.

A brown Divebomb dropped in from nowhere. "Enough of this! I, Ratbat, will crush you myself!"

Inferno turned to face the commander. "Will you, now? I beg to differ."

Ratbat lunged at Inferno, and Inferno shot him. Ratbat fell to the floor, his lower half a pile of slag. "Darn. I missed." Inferno shot him again, and Ratbat was reduced to a puddle.

An Autobot rushed up to Inferno. "Sir! The Federation forces are requesting air support! They're being demolished by the enemy cruisers! What should we do?"

Inferno looked up. "Give them a huge repair bill." Inferno flew up at the nearest mobile fortress and blasted through the engine, ripped through the rest of the decks, and blasted out the top. The fortress began to fall to the ground. Inferno turned his guns upon the next few cruisers and blasted giant holes in them. He flew at one of them and pushed it into the one next to it. He flew off at a group of other cruisers and began to demolish them.

Laserbeak stood on the battlefield that once was Plain City. He had slain many Autobots this day, although the victory was lacking something. Something he couldn't place.

Challenge. That was it. This entire city was poorly prepared to defend itself. Once his invasion fleet dropped down from the skies, the city was penetrated. Not even a shield to protect against transports coming in for a sky drop. Laserbeak had his forces in the city within the first moments of the attack. He even saw some humans running around the base.

Pathetic creatures, humans. Soft, brittle, vulnerable. Easily killed. No challenge for a warrior. Scorponok had informed the generals that the humans were expendable, and Laserbeak could see why.

A Terrorcon approached Laserbeak. "Sir, we are pleased to report that Plain City has been destroyed. Shall we commence mining operations?"

Laserbeak turned to face his subordinate. "Give me a casualty report first."

"No losses, sir, just some minor damage all around."

"Good. Commence mining operations."

"Right away." The Terrorcon marched off.

Laserbeak walked to his ship. This battle was over, and now he had to report it.

Ravage stood on the bridge of his mobile fortress. Three Autobots had escaped earlier, but no one else had. His fleet was mopping up the remains of the Earth Federation fleet that had engaged him. He was now waiting for a casualty report. He looked forward to reporting the fall of Desert City.

A Terrorcon approached him. "Sir, we have the casualty reports you requested."

"Thank you. Proceed." Ravage replied.

"We have lost the entirety of the 6th platoon, platoons 1-5 report heavy casualties, upwards of 5000 units lost per platoon, double that wounded. 7th platoon reports moderate casualties, but many wounded. Fleet group Alpha reports 17 ships lost, 13 others damaged. Fleet Group Beta reports a missing troop transport, no doubt the one stolen by the Autobots. Aside from that, they report 27 ships damaged, 3 destroyed. Fleet Group Gamma is still engaging the Federation fleet, but reports that the battle will be finished soon. Their losses are yet to be determined. Transport Group Alpha reports a missing Energon transport, but no casualties."

Ravage dismissed the last part. A missing transport was of no concern. "And the Autobots?" he questioned the other.

"Units report a 90 fatality rate amongst the Autobots. The remaining 10 must have escaped into the mines."

"And you did not pursue why?"

"Weapon discharges would have set off the Energon deposits, taking out the mine as well as the city. Our casualties would have been too great to warrant such a move."

"Very well. Carry on." Ravage said. Autobots in the mines. Who knows what they would be doing down there, or where they would go. Now was the time to report, if any. He entered his private comm. room and contacted Scorponok.

Scorponok waited for all four generals to appear. He had forgotten to wait for their report earlier. Laserbeak appeared first, then Ravage. A few moments, then Frenzy appeared. Scorponok waited a few minutes more, then decided to proceed.

"Has anyone heard a report from General Ratbat?" he asked.

"No, sir." Laserbeak replied.

"Not a peep, sir." Frenzy said.

"I heard from the battle at Jungle City that he had been killed." Ravage reported.

"Strange how Ravage was the only one to intercept this message." Laserbeak said.

"Strange how I was the only one listening." Ravage shot back.

"This is true. A major operation like this requires communication between forces. I commend you, Ravage. I will report this to Alpha Q." Scorponok said. "Now, status report."

"Plain City has been destroyed, sir. We are commencing mining operations now." Laserbeak said.

"The fighting has just begun in earnest, sir. Ocean City did not rise until an hour ago." Frenzy reported.

"Desert City is in our hands now. My fleet is mopping up the remaining Federation defenders." Ravage reported. "Jungle City status is unknown, although the last transmission indicated that their fleets were being annihilated. I would wager a loss there."

Scorponok frowned. "This isn't good. Jungle City still standing, and Ocean City just having joined the engagement. Frenzy, what do you believe the outcome will be?"

"The forecast does not look good. The Autobots who escaped Desert City went to Ocean City, and have joined the battle there. The Autobots known as Jetfire and Optimus Prime are there as well. We lost several ships before Ocean City rose, and the Federation has been fighting us for some time. I would need reinforcements to ensure a victory." Frenzy replied.

"Then you shall have them. Laserbeak, you are to join with the force at Jungle City. Take command there, if there's anything left. Ravage, finish up at Desert City, then make for Ocean City. I will be along presently." Scorponok ordered.

"Yes, sir!" All three generals replied. Their comms cut.

Scorponok entered his ships' bridge. "Plot a course for Ocean City, maximum speed!" he ordered.

Inferno flew through the skies of Jungle City. The enemy fleet was in a full-fledged panic. Inferno disengaged from Hotshot.

"Well, we certainly did a number on them." Inferno said.

"That we did. We've still got a whole load of Terrorcons to kill." Hotshot replied.

"Let's get to it, then!" Inferno said. The pair rushed into the battle.

A Space Bridge opened up above the battle. More ships poured out of it. "We've got company!" Hotshot shouted.

A red Divebomb dropped in between Hotshot and Inferno. "So, you two are the ones who killed Ratbat. Rest assured, I will not be as easily killed as he was." Laserbeak picked up a spikeball tail from a deceased Terrorcon. "Prepare to die!" he shouted as he charged at Hotshot.

Hotshot sidestepped him, then shot him. Laserbeak rolled to the side and was stepped on by Inferno. Inferno pointed his plasma cannon at Laserbeak's head. "Hey, that was harder." He said.

Laserbeak smashed Inferno with his spike tail, then flung it at Hotshot. Hotshot blasted it into nothing, but Laserbeak was already on him. Laserbeak stuck one of his explosive boomerang rockets to Hotshot and leapt away. Hotshot flung it off before Laserbeak could detonate it. Laserbeak caught it and flung it at Inferno, who caught the full blast of the explosive. In that time, Hotshot grabbed his blaster and shot Laserbeak. He fell to the ground.

Hotshot walked up to him. "In your words, 'Prepare to die!'" Hotshot blasted Laserbeak's face into slag. He ran over to Inferno. "Are you okay?"

Inferno groaned. "I've felt better. Nothing a little Energon couldn't fix, though."

"All right, let's get you inside." Hotshot pushed Inferno onto his shoulder, then walked with him into the base.

Cyclonus and Demolishor entered the bridge of the transport. Tidal Wave was waiting for them. Dead Terrorcons littered the floor.

"Tidal Wave, you were to wait for Galvatron to say before we took the transport!" he exclaimed.

"They found me. I had to kill them." Tidal wave replied.

"So, when do we leave?" Demolishor asked.

"As soon as we get enough Energon. They've found a deposit exposed somewhere nearby. They've been mining it for the past few hours. We're almost full." Tidal Wave replied.

"Yeah, if the humans don't shoot us out of the sky." Cyclonus muttered.

That too. I've heard over this comm. that Desert City has been taken and Plain City has been completely destroyed. Two of the generals in this battle have been killed at Jungle City. Scorponok and a General Ravage are headed to Ocean City to reinforce a General Frenzy. The battle here is favoring Scorponok at the moment, although Optimus is fighting like mad." Tidal Wave explained.

"So, when do we move out?" Demolishor asked.

"Well, the Terrorcons have to give us the signal. They'll give us the signal when the transport is full. That's when we leave." Tidal Wave looked at the cargo capacity. "Another few minutes, and we should be finished."

The radio came alive. "Energon Transport Epsilon-3, you are to launch immediately! The battle's about to heat up, and we want as much Energon as possible out of here before the Autobots get it!"

Tidal Wave sealed the hatch and launched the shuttle. It streaked into space toward the Space Bridge for transports. "Soon, Galvatron will be alive again, and the Autobots won't know what hit them!"

Optimus blasted a few Terrorcons into scrap. The battle was going pretty well for them. He had yet to see Frenzy, the enemy commander. Of course, a new fleet had arrived to reinforce this one, which probably held another commander. That wouldn't be good.

As if on cue, a flash of red smashed into Optimus' face. He stumbled, and saw a red Terrorcon, one of the four-legged variety. "You must be Optimus Prime. I must say, I expected you to be, well, stronger. But then, that may just be appearances, and they can be deceiving. I am Frenzy, and I say that only so you shall know the name of your destroyer." The red Terrorcon said.

Optimus saw a black Terrorcon in the masses. It didn't seem to notice him. He turned to face Frenzy. "My destroyer? Your other generals lost to my men, and they weren't as strong as I am. I doubt you'll fare better." Optimus said.

Frenzy lunged at Optimus, and he dodged. Optimus shot Frenzy in the head, killing him instantly. Optimus turned back to the battle and was face-to-face with a much larger bot. The black Terrorcon was by his side.

"So, you are Optimus Prime. Congratulations on defeating three of my generals. My fourth, the one at my side, is Ravage. I am Scorponok, and we will be your killers today." Scorponok drew Galvatron's sword.

"Galvatron's sword? No… He can't be alive!" Optimus said in shock.

"Not really. I just took his sword. Prepare to die!" Scorponok exclaimed.

Ravage jumped over Optimus and attempted to smash him with his tail. Optimus dodged, and swung at Ravage. Ravage ducked away and Scorponok stabbed at Optimus. Optimus dodged this, grabbed the sword, and flung it at the enemy fleet, along with Scorponok. Ravage jumped at Optimus again, but Optimus dodged and grabbed Ravage, flinging him into the fray. Optimus was then shot by lasers from nowhere. Scorponok smashed into Optimus, flying from out of the sun. The pair grappled for a while.

"There's no way you will succeed here, Scorponok! I won't let you!" Optimus shouted.

"You can't stop me!" Scorponok spat back.

"Oh really?" Optimus flung Scorponok off of him, then shot at him with his Energon Blast. Most of the Terrorcon army was destroyed, and Scorponok sustained heavy damage.

Scorponok got shakily to his feet. He picked up Galvatron's sword and surveyed the battle. The fleet was being destroyed, and most of the army was gone. "All units retreat!" Scorponok ordered. Ravage followed Scorponok.

Jetfire rushed up to Optimus. "Sir! All enemy units are retreating! We've won!" he exclaimed.

"That we did, Jetfire. That we did." The pair watched Scorponok's fleet withdraw from the planet. After a few minutes, Optimus said, "Jetfire, I want you to have Hotshot and Inferno report back here. Also, assemble a casualty report. I'd like to know the price of this victory."

"Yes, sir." Jetfire walked back into the base.

A lone Energon transport emerged from the Space Bridge. It flew at the remains of the planet-monster, Unicron. If one was to listen at the door of the bridge, one would hear joyous singing about the good times being back again.


	6. The Return of Galvatron

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 6: The Return of Galvatron

Alpha Q waited. Scorponok was supposed to have reported back by now. In the meantime, Alpha Q began devising punishments for Scorponok.

"Perhaps torture?" suggested the Angry Head.

"Oh, that sounds delightful!" exclaimed the Happy Head.

"Too much. A blow to his dignity would be much worse than physical torture." Said the Green Head.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Angry Head.

"A very menial task." Green Head noted the arrival of Scorponok.

Scorponok knelt before Alpha Q. Ravage emerged from behind him and did the same.

"My most sincere apologies, my lord. I was certain that Earth would be ours before the end of today." Scorponok said.

"Well, Scorponok, you certainly have bungled the easiest operation in the history of the Universe." Angry Head said.

"Yes, perhaps, if that mission was too difficult, we can assign you something simpler." Green Head said.

"Simpler? Sir, if I could get another chance, I will double the size of the fleet! No, triple it! I will keep hammering at the Autobots until there is nothing left of them!" Scorponok pleaded.

"We have a different task for you. One that is so simple, even you can't possibly mess it up." Happy Head said.

"Yes. We have an Energon leak here. It is emanating from the area where Galvatron rests. Go fix it." Green Head said.

Scorponok grimaced. "Sir, I'm sure my abilities can be…"

"Your abilities have proven useless!" Alpha Q cut Scorponok off. "Perhaps we can give you a more important task when this is done."

Scorponok left. Ravage turned to leave with him when Alpha Q called him back. "Not you, Ravage. We have a different task for you. The remainder of the invasion fleet is under your command. Rebuild, repair, and rearm it, then return to us. We will have further orders. Simply make sure you are well out of the way of everyone wherever you go." Alpha Q said.

"Yes, sir." Ravage replied. He suddenly got the feeling he was being sent away in case something went wrong here. And Ravage felt that something was going to go horribly wrong.

Galvatron was waiting. He had spent the past few days leeching Energon from Unicron and counting various things. He now knew that there were 5,671 cables embedded into the ground leading to him, and a total of 75,351 cables going to various other places. He even managed to pick up some Earth television programs and had been watching a show called "Rocko's Modern Life." He found it rather amusing. Galvatron was still watching in his head when he heard Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, and another approaching.

"Well? Have you the Energon?" he asked.

"Yes, sir! And we brought someone else back with us." Cyclonus replied.

Demolishor stepped out of the shadows and knelt before Galvatron. "It's… it's…" he stammered.

"Inarticulate as usual. Welcome back, Demolishor. You enjoyed your time with the Autobots?" Galvatron said.

"Uh, no, sir. They were terrible. Every bit as horrible as you said." Demolishor replied.

"You didn't feel that way when we first got to you. You were on the verge of staying!" Cyclonus exclaimed.

"I'll go get the Energon transport." Tidal Wave said, and walked off.

"You do that. Bring it around here." Galvatron called after him. He looked at Demolishor. "You actually were thinking about staying with the Autobots? Perhaps you are not as loyal as I thought you were."

"Oh, I am as loyal as ever, sir! I was simply hiding with the Autobots, working my way up the ranks, so that when you returned, I would be able to give you much valued information!" Demolishor explained quickly.

"Oh, yeah, guard duty holds many secrets that could help us destroy the Autobots." Cyclonus remarked.

"Enough comments from the peanut gallery over there." Galvatron shot at Cyclonus. He returned to Demolishor. "You lack the mental capacity for that kind of a plan, Demolishor." Galvatron said.

Tidal Wave's voice crackled to life on the comm. "Sir, I'm in position. Just tell me what to do."

"Excellent. Attach a transfer line to my position for direct feed. Then begin Energon transfer." Galvatron turned his attention to Demolishor and Cyclonus. "Leave me. I must rest while the Energon is processed. I will call for you when I need you."

"Yes, sir!" Cyclonus and Demolishor said together, and they left.

"Tidal Wave, begin Energon transfer." Galvatron said. He slipped into processing mode and knew no more. For a time, anyway.

Scorponok patrolled the halls of Unicron. Unicron's insides were a labyrinth of hallways and dropshafts. Scorponok found it difficult to find where his quarters were, let alone find Galvatron. At least this gave him time to think.

Scorponok knew that Alpha Q was unhappy with the result of the Earth Invasion. Sure, Scorponok could have done it better, but he'd caused a lot of damage. If only he could rebuild his fleet quickly, he would be able to hit Earth again. And this time, he would not fail. Earth's defenses were broken and worn, and they would not survive another full-scale invasion. But no, Alpha Q gave the rebuilding job to Ravage. Ravage did indeed have the biggest piece of fleet left over after the battle, but that was no reason to think he was better than Scorponok.

_Hell, Ravage might have done worse than me._ Scorponok thought. Then again, he might have done better. It was impossible to tell. _Better not dwell on it. I need to find Galvatron._ Like that would be easy. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He knew Galvatron was one of the corpses on the wall, but there were tons of those. Scorponok knew some of them from his records research. He thought he saw a group of old Cybertronian Seekers, the old tertrajets. They looked familiar, too. Like he'd been this way before. Then Scorponok knew he was on the right track. He remembered that one of the Seekers had their arm pointing in one direction, like it was pointing to something. Sure enough, the yellow one (it was tough to tell, they were extremely old) had its arm pointing in one direction. Scorponok followed it. Galvatron was this way, he was sure of it.

Optimus looked at the skies of Earth. Even after three days, he could see smoke from fires they had yet to put out. The death toll had to be in the billions, at least.

Jetfire came up to Optimus. "Sir, I have the casualty reports, as well as the damage reports. You want me to leave them on the table?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll look at them later." In truth, Optimus didn't want to look at them at all. Too many friends had died that day. And the humans. Dr. Jones might have been killed, too. And that meant that Earth would be almost defenseless.

Jetfire put the datapads on the table behind Optimus. "You did everything you could, sir." He said.

Optimus took a sudden interest in studying the floor. "I know. I did everything I could. But I still feel like I could have done more, like I could have saved more lives." He looked at Jetfire. "Like the death toll didn't have to be so high."

Jetfire thought about this. "The enemy still took us by surprise, sir. We couldn't predict when the enemy would attack and in what numbers with our information. We knew nothing about them, and you did everything you could to prevent this disaster. Everything anyone could have done."

Optimus looked out the window. "I suppose you're right. But I've got the feeling that something's brewing out there. Something that will make this invasion look like a small party."

Alpha Q sat in his chamber, brooding. Unicron spoke to him.

"ALPHA Q."

Alpha Q looked around, startled. "Yes?" he said shakily.

"I HEARD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON EARTH."

Alpha Q began to tremble. "We-we-we tried, sir. We really did. It's just that accursed Optimus Prime getting in the way!"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD DO ABOUT THAT?"

"There's no way to kill him with a direct attack! We've tried, he's too strong!"

"THE KEY WORDS THERE ARE 'DIRECT ATTACK.'"

"An indirect attack? You mean like…?" Then it dawned on Alpha Q. "An assassin. Yes, that would work nicely. Beautifully, even. But who to use?"

"MIGHT I RECOMMEND ONE OF THE SEEKERS SITTING ABOUT IN MY BODY? THE ONE KNOOWN AS STARSCREAM MIGHT BE OF USE TO YOU."

"Yes, Starscream. We can easily make him an assassin, completely loyal to us. Let's get started!" Alpha Q said excitedly.

Unicron went back into standby mode, certain he had steered Alpha Q on the right path. Things were bound to go wrong, of course. He just hoped that Alpha Q would have the brains to wipe Starscream's memory. If they didn't, there was going to be a problem.

Scorponok wound his way through the halls. He had just seen the corpse of Astrotrain, so he knew he was close. Up ahead, he saw a glowing ball. He was there. Scorponok drew his sword and rushed up to the ball and looked at it. It was indeed Galvatron, leeching Energon from Unicron and Alpha Q. Scorponok readied his sword.

Cyclonus and Demolishor had chosen just that moment to walk in.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cyclonus shouted.

"Taking care of a problem we've been having." Scorponok replied.

"You can't kill Galvatron!" Demolishor shouted.

"He's been leeching our Energon. I've come to put a stop to it." Scorponok jabbed his sword into Galvatron's chest. The glowing ceased.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" Cyclonus shrieked and lunged at Scorponok. Demolishor did the same.

Scorponok batted away the pair. Demolishor readied his guns and began to blast Scorponok. Cyclonus got up and ran at Scorponok, and punched him in the face. Scorponok grabbed Cyclonus and used him as a shield against Demolishor's onslaught. Demolishor stopped firing and jumped on Scorponok. Scorponok flung the two into a wall. No one noticed that Scorponok's sword had been sucked into Galvatron.

"I'll finish you both!" Scorponok shouted and transformed into his scorpion-truck alt mode, stabbing Demolishor.

Galvatron began glowing again. The ground around them began to shake violently. Scorponok transformed back into a robot.

Glowing cracks began to form on Galvatron's body, as the Decepticon insignia on his chest glowed a bright purple. A massive white arm with a blue hand erupted from one side of Galvatron's perch. Its shoulder broke free, and began to move. Another arm just like it followed.

Scorponok, Demolishor, and Cyclonus had completely forgotten their fight and sat in awe. Pieces of rock were falling off of the body and the ceiling.

A large white wing appeared out of the rock behind Galvatron. Another followed it. A large white torso began to emerge from the wall. Large, round legs appeared.

And last, Galvatron's face broke free from the wall, and the rock fell away from it, revealing the face of the new Galvatron.

Scorponok, Cyclonus, and Demolishor sat there with their mouths open. Galvatron was back.

Galvatron looked at his new body. "Oh, yes. I'd say this will suit me just fine. More than fine, in fact." He said.

Scorponok regained his courage. "Not for long!" He lunged at Galvatron.

Galvatron merely slapped him away. "You must be Scorponok, the one who tried to kill me. A rather pathetic attempt, wouldn't you say?" he said with amusement. He walked over to where Scorponok sat and grabbed his face, and lifted him up. "I am not killed so easily. Not anymore." Galvatron slammed Scorponok into the wall several times, Scorponok crying out in pain each time.

"I surrender!" Scorponok cried, his voice muffled by Galvatron's hand.

"Really? So soon? I'm just getting warmed up!" Galvatron said.

He drove Scorponok into the wall again, leaving liquid Energon on the wall. He then drove his knee straight into Scorponok's midsection, then punched him. Scorponok began bleeding Energon from these wounds. He caught Scorponok by the throat and lifted him high.

"Please, I'm begging you! I surrender! I'll do anything you want, just don't kill me!" Scorponok cried frantically. His agony was spelled out in every word he said.

"Anything I want?" Galvatron thought for a moment. "I have just the thing." He threw Scorponok to the ground. A purple ball appeared in Galvatron's hand. He drove the ball into Scorponok's chest. Electricity crackled around it, and, at length, Galvatron withdrew his hand. A Decepticon insignia now sat in the middle of his chest.

"Welcome to my team." Galvatron said. He brought his sword out from the air. "Now, let's go finish the job." He looked at Scorponok. A small pool of Energon was forming around him. "Where's your master, Alpha Q?"

Scorponok got painfully to his feet. "Follow…me." He strained.

Alpha Q was drawing up plans to remake Starscream when he sensed several people approaching. One of them was Scorponok. He was badly injured. The door opened, revealing the true scene.

Scorponok stumbled into the room and collapsed to the floor. "Scorponok!" Alpha Q cried.

"Oh, don't worry about him. It's you who should be worried." The white newcomer said.

"What?" Alpha Q asked.

Galvatron jumped at Alpha Q and brought his sword down. Alpha Q detached from the ceiling and ran out of the room.

"Get back here!" Galvatron shouted as he gave chase.

They ran all across Unicron, until Alpha Q came to a dead end. Alpha Q turned around.

"End of the road." Galvatron said.

"That's what you think!" The floor split at the middle, and Alpha Q's side drifted off into space.

"NO!" Galvatron bellowed. He fired off as many shots as he could from his shoulder cannons, but they all impacted on a shield.

"We'll be back, Galvatron! You haven't seen the last of us!" Alpha Q shouted as he teleported away.

Unicron awoke and realized he was missing something. He ran a quick systems check and found that his head and body were detached. Odd. That' wasn't supposed to happen. He then sensed Alpha Q in the head, and Galvatron in the body. That would explain why his head was missing. They both were going to try to revive him, and the both of them separate would be better for him. After all, that would be twice the people collecting Energon for him, and twice the Energon. He went back into standby.

Galvatron stared off at where Alpha Q had disappeared. Blast him! He escaped! No matter. He had other things to do right now. He would take care of Alpha Q later. He turned to his men.

"What do we do now, boss?" Cyclonus asked.

Galvatron smiled. "Let's go pay a visit to our old friend, Optimus Prime." He began to walk to the door.

Scorponok, who was now hunched over with his claw at his stomach wound, said, "I'm not going."

"I beg to differ." Galvatron said without stopping.

"Right now, Optimus would destroy us!" Scorponok coughed up some Energon. "And we're wounded! We need repairs!"

"You'll be fine. Right, Demolishor?"

Demolishor looked up. He was indeed in better condition than Scorponok, but was still too wounded to fight effectively. "Yes, sir!" he said automatically.

"A few dents aren't enough to stop a true Decepticon." Galvatron said. He had stopped walking.

"But…"

"Cyclonus, drag him with us. You're going whether you like it or not." Galvatron said. "Tidal Wave, meet up with us at the following coordinates." He transmitted coordinates to Tidal Wave.

Cyclonus walked up to Scorponok, who was now having trouble standing. "He's in bad shape, boss. He needs repairs."

"Then repair him on the way. Let's move, people!" Galvatron shouted. He began to walk to the exit.

Cyclonus helped Scorponok to his feet. The Decepticons left.

Optimus was reviewing the casualty reports (finally) when his comm. went off. He put down the pad (_It was depressing anyway. _Optimus thought) and answered it. It was Kicker.

"Optimus! We've gotta move! Jungle City is under attack!" Kicker shouted.

"Chill. Hotshot, Jetfire, and Inferno are there. They can handle whatever gets dished out now." Optimus said.

"I don't think so! Guess who just showed up!" Kicker said.

Jungle City was putting up a good fight against the Decepticons and their new Terrorcons, taken from Alpha Q. Then Galvatron got there, holding Scorponok.

"Your first loyalty test, Scorponok! Be my shield." Galvatron said. After Scorponok had absorbed some of the heavier rounds, Galvatron tossed him aside. "You pass. Now out of the way!" Galvatron said as he threw Scorponok into the water. He fired his shoulder cannons at a few turrets and landed. A yellow Autobot turned to look at him.

"No…" the Autobot said. Galvatron grabbed him and tore his arm off.

Optimus arrived in Super mode with Wingdecker, Ironhide, and Kicker in his battle suit. They saw Galvatron holding Hot Shot.

"Galvatron!" Optimus shouted.

Galvatron turned. He smiled, and threw Hot Shot's arm at Optimus, along with the rest of his body. "Hello again, Optimus." He said, still smiling.


	7. Lament

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 7: Lament

"Like the new body? Made it myself." Galvatron said.

"So, you never died." Optimus said.

"I am difficult to kill. I've always admired that about myself." Galvatron replied.

"Well, looks like I have to finish the job!" Optimus said and fired at Galvatron. The blasts bounced off of him.

"Never bothered to upgrade your weapons? Pitiful. I'll show you real firepower!" Galvatron said. He brought down his shoulder cannons and shot Optimus.

Optimus managed to dodge one bolt, but the other one tore off one of his arms. Optimus picked it up, wincing. He was about to order a retreat when Galvatron spoke.

"That was just a sample. Next time, I'll make it full power." He turned to the other Decepticons, who were now huddled around Scorponok.

"He's dying, sir! We've got to get him out of here!" Cyclonus exclaimed.

"Which we are. Let's go, men!" Galvatron ordered. The Decepticons disappeared.

Optimus was visibly struggling not to cry out in pain. Inferno approached him. "Let's get you to a medcenter, sir."

"Hot Shot first. I'll be fine." Optimus said.

"We're evacuating Hot Shot as well. We'll get him to an Energon Tank. You just need your arm back on and some quality time in the CR chamber." Inferno said.

Jetfire ran up to Optimus. "Sir, I hate to tell you this, but I found Commander Kickback. He's dead. Torn to scrap."

Optimus hung his head. Couldn't they get five minutes of peace? They had just begun to repair the damage caused by Scorponok's invasion, and now they were getting attacked by Galvatron. Would this madness ever end?

"Come on, sir. Let's get you out of here." Inferno said.

"Jetfire, you're in charge here for now. Make sure Kickback gets a proper burial. The rest of you, let's go. We've got our wills to make out." Optimus said.

The others looked at each other. Wills to make out? Since when did Optimus give up hope? When had Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, given up hope? They followed Optimus through the Space Bridge.

Galvatron headed to the medcenter. Scorponok had sustained damage that would have killed any lesser bot. But Scorponok had survived, and Galvatron was impressed. Congratulations were in order.

The door slid open. Cyclonus and Demolishor were watching Scorponok get repaired. They turned, saw him, and then stood at attention.

"As you were." He strode to where Scorponok was. "Is he conscious?"

"Not yet, sir. A few more minutes, and he would have died." Cyclonus said.

Galvatron looked at Scorponok. "When he regains consciousness, contact me. I must congratulate him." Galvatron made for the door.

"Congratulate? What for?" Demolishor asked.

"For being one tough bastard. Not many bots can survive the beating he took." Galvatron walked off. He had plans to make.

Alpha Q was pacing nervously. This was seriously bad. Unicron's head, while the size of a small moon, did not have the resources to make any kind of fighting force. They had the Starscream plans, to be sure, but the were useless without Energon. Galvatron had taken all of their Terrorcons inside Unicron.

All except one.

Ravage. Recent events had driven Ravage from their minds. Ravage was not inside Unicron when Galvatron took over.

A glimmer of hope formed in Alpha Q's heart. They reached out tentatively to find Ravage.

Ravage had just arrived in the Grashal system, a system loaded with Energon. He had just begun the Energon mining operations when he heard the voice of Alpha Q.

_Ravage._

Ravage looked around. They weren't here. He dismissed it as his imagination.

_Ravage, are you there?_

Ravage proceeded into his ready room. It would look bad to his subordinates if he started talking to himself. After locking the door, he responded. "Alpha Q?"

_Yes, Ravage. It is us. We have a problem._

A problem? Already? He just left. Scorponok must have died doing whatever he was supposed to be doing. Ravage wasn't paying attention at that point. "What kind of problem?" he replied to Alpha Q.

_A big problem named Galvatron. He woke up, converted Scorponok, and kicked us out. We escaped with Unicron's head, which doesn't have enough Energon to power the lights._

That was indeed a problem. "You want me to begin shipping Energon to you, sir?" he asked.

_As much as you can, as soon as you can. We still need to revive one more soldier to help us. These are our coordinates._

Coordinates were driven into Ravage's mind. "I'll have transports sent your way, then." Ravage replied. He strode onto the bridge of his ship. "All right, everyone! We've got a major Energon shipment to make to Alpha Q! Let's double-time it, people!"

Ironhide, Kicker, and Wingdecker sat at a table in the rec room of Ocean City. Inferno was tending to Optimus and Hot Shot, and Jetfire was still trying to clean up Jungle City.

"I've never heard Optimus say anything like that." Ironhide said.

"'Make out our wills?' Are we really in that deep?" Wingdecker said.

"Optimus never seemed like the kind of guy to give up hope like that." Kicker said.

"He might just be stressed out. I mean, Earth just got invaded, sending war casualties into orbit, then Galvatron returns, and he's going to make the bodies pile higher. He must have a lot on his mind. I've seen it happen to other commanders." Wingdecker said. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"I never thought it would happen to Optimus. He always seemed like the kind of bot who never gave up hope." Ironhide said.

"Well, Galvatron's his biggest rival. They're equals, combat-wise. But you saw how Optimus' shot bounced right off of Galvatron. It didn't even scratch his paint. Then Galvatron goes and blasts Optimus' arm off! That has to be pretty demoralizing." Wingdecker said.

"Well, if your theory is right, Wingdecker, Optimus might just need some time alone, to sort all this out. In the span of a week, Earth has gone from idyllic paradise to hell-hole. It's enough to make anyone depressed." Kicker said.

"I guess so." Ironhide said.

Inferno sat in the medbay. He had fixed up Optimus, and he was healing nicely. Hot shot was sitting in an Energon tank, getting repaired. He had extensive circuit damage, and Inferno couldn't reattach his arm. It had been disconnected too long, and it was drained of its Energon completely. Inferno himself had some wounds that needed patching up.

As he was fixing himself, Inferno looked at Optimus. He was in sleep mode. Good. He needed some rest.

This also gave Inferno time to think. Optimus was a great leader, and he was very strong, but the way his shots bounced off of Galvatron like that… That had to be demoralizing. Of course Optimus would be a bit shaken by it. But nothing Inferno could think of would make Optimus' will break like that. The recent stresses were certainly not helping the situation.

Inferno thought about Galvatron. _He has extremely resilient armor. I couldn't see any scratches or chips in it. And it was made of Metronium, which has only been found in few places. The only Transformer that had that kind of armor was…_

_Unicron._

Galvatron was looking over a tactical map of Ocean City. One of the few things Demolishor did under the Autobots was get maps of the various cities. Galvatron was tracing the quickest routes to the Energon mines when his door chime sounded.

"I'm busy!" he shouted, then returned to studying the map.

"It's Scorponok, sir. I was told to report to you for something." Scorponok said.

"Enter." Galvatron glanced at Scorponok as he entered.

"You wanted to speak to me, sir?" Scorponok said.

"I only wished to congratulate you for surviving the initiation. Not many could have survived it."

Scorponok was taken aback. "Sir?"

"The initial beating was partially revenge. The other part was testing your limits. You can certainly take a lot of punishment." Galvatron said.

"Thank you, sir." Scorponok paused. "Anything else?"

Galvatron looked at him. "You've invaded Earth before, correct? Give me an estimated status report on Ocean City."

Scorponok paused again. Galvatron beat the hell out of him, and now they were supposed to be all buddy-buddy? _I think not._ Of course, Scorponok had no intention of viewing the inside of a CR chamber again for a while. "I'd say their defenses are weak. My invasion failed, but succeeded in destroying most of the defenders on Earth. Optimus is located at Ocean City, as are most of the elite Autobots. I'd wager that most of them are up and running, except for the yellow one and Optimus."

"Why not Optimus?" Galvatron asked.

"He lost his arm. I also managed to catch a glimpse of him between the legs of everyone else. He looked… demoralized."

"Did he? Even an inch from death, you noticed all that. Excellent. We will strike now, while Optimus is out of commission." Galvatron declared.

"I'd like to say now, sir, that the Autobots will fight harder than ever against us, to defend their beloved leader. They do things like that." Scorponok said.

"Without Optimus, they'll have no chance, no matter how hard they fight. Get everyone ready. Briefing in three hours." Galvatron said. Scorponok left, and Galvatron pored over the maps again.

Inferno walked outside of Ocean City. A lot of debris had been cleaned up, but there were still bits of enemy drones laying around. If the Metronium Galvatron was made of came from Unicron, then Inferno would have to find a sample of it to find a weakness. He'd heard that one of the Omnicons had scanned the sword Scorponok was holding during the Earth Invasion, which looked like the same sword Galvatron held. He set them to work making more. In the meantime, he'd need the Metronium.

It seemed that the drones that were killed here were made of Calcion, also found in Unicron, among other places. This worried him. If the drones were made from material found in Unicron, then that meant that they were facing him again. But if that was true, where was he? Unicron was the type to consume planets, occasionally sending envoys to soften up the tougher ones. So if Unicron was their foe, why didn't he join the Earth invasion?

Inferno came across a pile of hardened slag that had yet to be scraped up. He scanned it. _Metronium! _He thought joyously when the scan was finished. He snapped off a sample and rushed back to the lab. There might yet be hope.

Optimus lay in sleep mode. His physical wounds were healed, but his mental state was sad. _It's hopeless. He's invincible, we're all dead._ He thought. It was only a matter of time before the enemy came for them. And then they would win. And they would have all the Energon they would ever need for…whatever it was they were doing. All this death, and he couldn't stop it. _I KNOW I could have done better than this. I know there was some way to prevent this from happening. Maybe if we had the Mars relay post operational sooner…_

_No, that's stupid. They came through the Space Bridge. Inferno said so._ Optimus answered himself.

_Well, maybe we could have had that thing Dr. Jones is working on. We could have deployed that sooner._

_Don't be a fool, it's not finished._

_Maybe if I called for more reinforcements…_

_Only more people would have died._

_Oh, will you shut up and GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! Come on, Prime, this is extremely unlike you._

_But I could have…_

_Yeah, well, what's done is done and there's no use beating yourself up over it. Yes, the recent months have been stressful, but you've always taken this kind of thing in stride._

_What if…?_

_STOP BITCHING ABOUT THE PAST! Honestly, you sound like a young bot, fresh from the Academy._

_But…_

_Dwelling on the past isn't going to help us right now! Yes, maybe there are some things we could have done better, but we can't change the past! It's done, and we have to be sure we try not to make those mistakes again! Do you ever see Galvatron bitching and moaning over the past? NO! He gets right back up and gets back to work!_

_My men might have lost confidence in me._

_Only because you've lost confidence in yourself. They follow us because we have confidence in ourselves. Come on…Where there's a will, there's a way._

_Oh, you're right. As usual._

_Let's get going. For our men. For freedom and peace._

_Right._

Inferno awoke with a start. He looked around to find what woke him up, and then saw that it was his computer. The analysis on the Metronium was complete. Inferno optimized his hard rive and read.

_Looks like it's only vulnerable to high grade weaponry, weapons heavier than even the Decepticons have ever developed._ Inferno thought. This was bad. If the Autobots had no way to break the Metronium, then they might as well fill out their wills. _Not like the Decepticons will respect that anyway. _Inferno thought wryly. He'd report this to Optimus when he woke up, provided he was in any condition to hear it. Maybe there was a way around it.

Inferno went over to Hot Shot's Energon tank. _Looks good. He's healing nicely. He should be combat-ready by the end of the day. The wonder of Energon._ Inferno thought. _Energon…_

Then it hit him. _Energon can be used in weapons!_ Inferno rushed to his desk and began to look at the weapon properties of Energon. _Energon is exceptionally vulnerable to weapons fire. A small explosion near a deposit has the risk of setting off the entire deposit. But we can use it to enhance our weapons, hopefully making them stronger. And, if I'm right, the power of these weapons might be able to pierce Metronium! We may live through this yet!_

Optimus woke. He sat up and checked his arm. Still functional. Good. As he stood up, Inferno entered the room.

"Optimus, sir, you're awake already?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm not that fragile."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Inferno." Optimus consoled. "What's been happening while I was out?"

"Well, sir, I have good news and bad news." Inferno said.

_Goody. More bad news._ "Let's have the bad." Optimus sighed.

"I've found out that Galvatron's armor is made of Metronium. The enemy drones are made of Calcion." Inferno said.

"Metronium's impenetrable, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. Both elements are rare, not enough to make armor like Galvatron's. The only place in the universe that has that much Metronium and Calcion is Unicron."

"Unicron…" Optimus mused. "This means that Unicron is back?"

"Maybe. It could be that someone has access to his resources, but it's more likely that he is once again active in the area."

Optimus sighed. "What's the good news?"

"I think I've found a way to pierce the Metronium."

Optimus stared. "What is it?"

"We can use weapons spiked with Energon to produce the effects required to break the Metronium. I've already set the Omnicons to work replicating Galvatron's sword from Energon. They'll be ready within a day."

"Excellent job, Inferno. But how are we going to spike our weapons with Energon?"

"I've set the Omnicons to finding that solution. I believe there's a way to inject it directly into our systems, but I'm not sure how."

"This is indeed great news. I hope we get more." Optimus said. He looked out the window. "We may just win this war yet."

"I was thinking the same thing." Inferno said with a smile.

Alpha Q waited. It was dark. The head was very low on Energon, so Alpha Q kept the lights off. They saw a purple dot in the distance, which closed almost as suddenly as it had opened.

_The shipment from Ravage._ Alpha Q thought.

Thousands of Terrorcons began dropping Energon capsules onto the head. Energon levels soared.

"Finally!" The Green Head exclaimed.

"We have enough Energon to revive Starscream!" The Happy Head exclaimed.

Alpha Q began to laugh as the Terrorcons dropped Energon onto the head.


	8. Battle for Ocean City

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 8: Battle for Ocean City

Wingdecker stood on the Ocean City landing deck. The sky was blue, birds were chirping, all was peaceful. He rather enjoyed the peace. It came so little these days. If it wasn't one crisis, it was another. First the invasion of Scorponok, then Galvatron coming back, then…

Who knew what else. With Galvatron back, dark times were ahead for them all.

Inferno also said something about Unicron being the main mastermind behind all of this. Yeah, right. Unicron was destroyed at the end of the Second Minicon War, or so he was told. But still…

If Unicron was destroyed, how did Scorponok get himself the Calcion? It was almost impossible to find in nature, and the manufactured version had structural weaknesses that could not be accounted for in the Terrorcon armor. He had to have a deposit of Calcion someplace. It was a big universe, after all.

Then where did the Metronium come from? There was no known way to manipulate Metronium to form anything, much less armor. In fact, there was only one source of natural Metronium ever found. And that sample came from Unicron. Galvatron's armor was made of it, yet there was no way to shape it. Perhaps Galvatron found a way? Impossible. No Transformer in existence could manipulate Metronium. It was even unknown how Unicron made his body like that. His origins were so mysterious that it was entirely possible that he was created like that. In fact, there didn't seem to be any way to penetrate his armor. Not even the Requiem Blaster could so much as scratch it.

There didn't seem to be any way around it. Unicron must be out there, somewhere. Wingdecker shuddered. He'd heard the stories of fighting Unicron. They said he was a monster that consumed entire planets, and sometimes stars, to feed his appetite for power. Each time he consumed a world, his power increased exponentially, and no one knew for certain how many worlds he had eaten by the time he reached Cybertron.

Cybertron mythos had referred to him as the Dark God, the ancient rival of Primus, the God of Cybertron. Information had emerged that he had created the Minicon race to be his slaves, his servants for all eternity. Somehow they escaped, and managed to make their way to Cybertron, where the Great War was in full swing. The Decepticons under Megatron wanted to use the Minicons as tools of war, while the Autobots under Optimus Prime wanted to make them citizens of Cybertron. After a while, the Autobots decided to send them away, and the Minicons agreed. The Decepticons would have none of this, and tried to capture the Minicon transport, but it escaped and crashed on Earth.

Wingdecker heard a noise to his right. He swiveled, and saw nothing. He switched visor spectrums a few times, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He returned to his thoughts.

The Transformer and former Decepticon Seeker known as Starscream peeked out from behind the pillar he had hidden behind. _Entirely too close. I'll have to correct that._ Starscream thought. After making sure that the Autobot wasn't looking, he dashed inside.

Autobots. The word was familiar to him, as if he'd heard it before. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't remember it. He couldn't remember anything, for that matter. The last thing he knew was when the creature calling itself Alpha-Q woke him. It had called him "Starscream" (something else he could recall nothing about), informed him of what his purpose was (it seemed like he had something else to do, but he couldn't put his finger on it), and sent him here. He did, however, remember quite a bit about fighting and stealth. Whether Alpha-Q had programmed him that way or he actually was that way before was still a mystery. In fact, he had even taken the long way to Earth to try to remember things.

Starscream… He knew that word meant something. Alpha Q had used that as his name. It seemed fitting. Was that his name before? He knew there was a before. In sleep mode, he would occasionally see flickers of things, images flashing across his subconscious. He remembered none of these, yet he knew he should. Did Alpha Q suppress his memory? Perhaps. Or they might have made a mistake and implanted someone else's memories into his hard drive.

No, that was stupid. Memory transfers were difficult to perform properly. They were rarely performed due to this difficulty, as hard drives tended to melt down when a transfer occurred. The few who didn't suffer meltdowns went insane.

Starscream heard footsteps. He ducked into a hallway. Even though he was in stealth mode, he hid anyway. It was good practice. He could hear the two bots talking.

"We should have them ready in about two hours, Jetfire." One of the bots said.

Jetfire… That name was familiar. He wasn't entirely sure where he had heard it before, but it was familiar.

He'd ponder that later. He had a job to do now.

"Good. Galvatron should have serious problems when he attacks next. Keep me updated." The other bot (_Must be Jetfire._) said.

Galvatron. Another name he probably should know. And another thing he'd have to ask Alpha-Q about.

At any rate, he had a job to do. These thoughts were distractions. It was time to find the command room.

Galvatron stood on the deck of his ship. It was one of Scorponok's designs, a heavy battlecruiser. He was only out here because Cyclonus and Demolishor were making quite a racket in the ship, arguing over a bunk. Galvatron was counting the minutes until he heard that one of them had been killed.

Well, he'd announced his presence to Optimus and the Autobots. A good thing, he decided. Made the game more interesting. Scorponok ad told him that Optimus looked like he was about to give up. Hmph. Galvatron knew that Optimus never gave up if his ideals were at stake. But if Optimus really was in that condition, this would be a lot easier.

But no fun.

Galvatron looked at Scorponok. He flew alongside the ship. Galvatron knew that Scorponok still had loyalties to Alpha-Q. Whether that would be a problem or not remained to be seen. Scorponok seemed like an opportunist, something he'd have to watch out for in the future.

Galavtron looked away as his thoughts turned to Demolishor. He was impressionable, something Galvatron had always used to his advantage. Now it might pose a problem. Who knows what 10 years with the Autobots did to him. They no doubt tried to fill his head with notions of peace and kindness, and worst of all, compassion. Demolishor had a thick head, but Galvatron doubted that it was that thick. That was another bot he'd have to keep his eye on.

Then there was Cyclonus. Psychotic as always, he seemed like he went relatively unaffected by the Autobots. Good. Galvatron needed someone who was reliable.

Galvatron chuckled to himself. Cyclonus and reliable were generally not used in a sentence together like that. "What an odd twist," he muttered.

"Sir?" Scorponok asked.

"Nothing."

Cyclonus would have to be one of the few soldiers that was still completely loyal to him, Tidal Wave being the other. Tidal Wave, never speaking much, not very intelligent, but exceedingly strong. He was also very loyal, like a very large, dangerous,… what was that Earth creature called again?

Oh yes. A dog. Very much like a dog.

So, out of his small squad here, only two could Galvatron trust. Besides himself, of course.

Well, three out of five wasn't bad.

Optimus was practicing sword combat when the door chime sounded. "Thank you. Dismissed." He said to the practice bot. "Enter."

A Skyblast Omnicon entered, carrying a large green sword. "Here you go, sir. An exact replica of Galvatron's sword. It's threaded with Energon ore, as well as the salvaged Calcion." He said as he handed the sword over.

"Excellent." Optimus took the sword and swung it about a bit. "Feels good. How many of these do we have?"

"Enough to outfit the entire base. Although there are some things we may need to work on." Skyblast said.

"Is it dangerous?"

"It might be. We had a hard time working with the Energon ore, so it's still a bit unstable. The Starsaber team should be able to help us out, due to their new Energon properties."

Optimus' eye twitched. "First, they are the Energon Saber now. Second, I'd rather not call them out unless it is an absolute emergency."

"Galvatron's return isn't an emergency?"

"Well… it is. But I'd rather not have to call upon the Energon Saber, Skyboom Shield, or Requiem Blaster teams. The weapons they form are too powerful to be used again."

"It's not like we have a choice, sir. The Energon Saber team has enough knowledge about Energon that we can make these swords safer to use. We won't have to rely on the Energon Saber so much, if at all."

Optimus struggled with this reasoning. "What if Galvatron realizes that they're active again? He will try to take them. As far as we know, he believes that they are gone. I'd like to keep it that way."

Skyblast hung his head in defeat. "If you say so, sir. Although I do believe that we will need them in the future."

"Distribute swords to all units and show them how to use it without them hacking their own limbs off. Or those of their friends." Optimus said.

Starscream watched this exchange. Interesting. Optimus was worried that these teams mentioned were too powerful to be used. He noted their names and would report them to Alpha Q. More brownie points for him.

Starscream followed Skyblast out, then headed down the hall. It was truly amazing the wealth of knowledge the Autobots could be.

Galvatron stood on the bridge of his ship. In the end, Cyclonus had received a broken face and a cracked optic, nothing a few minutes in a CR chamber couldn't fix. They were almost at the Space Bridge coordinates. One of the things he wanted to do once he got to Ocean City is find information on the Minicons. Last he remembered, they were quite prevalent on Cybertron, and with Autobot expansion, the Minicons probably moved as well.

What concerned him most was the three weapon teams: Star Saber, Skyboom Shield, and Requiem Blaster. Any one of them would suffice, really. They had practically won the war for the Decepticons last time, and could do so again. The Autobots must still have them hidden someplace. All that mattered were those three teams.

The rest were expendable.

And then, they arrived at Earth.

Alarms blared through Ocean City. The Decepticons had just been detected heading for Ocean City. And leading the pack was Galvatron.

"All units to battle stations! Ironhide, Jetfire, Hot Shot, Inferno, with me!" Optimus shouted.

The group took up positions at the gate. "Man, when I get my hands on that traitor Demolishor…" Ironhidesaid, shaking with rage.

"Calm down. We can't focus on personal vendettas right now. Don't go out of your way to fight an enemy." Hot Shot replied.

Ironhide only grumbled.

The gate began to buckle. "Knock knock, who's there?" Galvatron's voice said from the other side. The gate crashed open with a resounding KRAKK.

"Attack!" Optimus shouted, and the battle began.

Galvatron roared and drew his sword. The Terrorcons swarmed past them to the Energon.

Optimus' and Galvatron's swords clashed a few times before Galvatron realized that Optimus' sword was the same as his. "What? How is that possible?"

"A gift from the Omnicons." Optimus said, and swung his blade in a direct course for Galvatron's head.

Galvatron ducked and slashed Optimus' midsection, and hit home. Optimus recoiled.

"Where are you, traitor?" Ironhide screamed as he sliced through Terrorcons. "When I find you, you're dead!"

"Looking for someone?" Cyclonus said from behind Ironhide.

Ironhide turned. "Cyclonus! Where's Demolishor?" he shouted.

"He's elsewhere. How about you play with me?" Cyclonus cackled. He blasted Ironhide with his wrist blasters. "Aww, did I hurt the widdle Autobrat? Let Daddy fix it and make it better!" Cyclonus started shooting again, cackling madly.

Cyclonus next found a foot in his face. "Maybe you'd like to see big brother?" Hot shot said.

"How about meeting mine?" Cyclonus said. Tidal Wave's gargantuan hand smashed Hot Shot into a wall. Cyclonus cackled again.

Ironhide charged at Cyclonus and managed to slice off his hand and part of his wrist blaster. "Who's an Autobrat now?" he said as Cyclonus nursed his bleeding stump.

"You're going to regret that." Cyclonus said.

Demolishor grabbed Ironhide from behind and slammed him into a wall. "You wanted to see me?" he said.

Ironhide turned. "Oh, yeah!" he shouted. He swung at Demolishor as Cyclonus punched him in the head. Demolishor ducked.

Cyclonus was shot by a blast from behind Demolishor. "Two on one isn't exactly fair, you know." Inferno said.

"You little punk!" Cyclonus retorted.

"Punk this!" Inferno said as he blasted Cyclonus.

"Just you and me now, Demolishor." Ironhide said.

"Bring it!" Demolishor said.

Ironhide charged and swung his sword. Demolishor ducked and smashed Ironhide's midsection. Ironhide recoiled, and Demolishor was on him again, pounding his face.

_Where's my trailer?_ Optimus wondered as he dodged Galvatron's fist. Their swords were abandoned long ago, as Galvatron seemed to want to break Optimus without the need for fancy weapons. Optimus dodged Galvatron's next fist, grabbed his arm, and swung him into a wall facefirst. Galvatron stumbled, and Optmus kicked him in the abdomen. Galvatron blocked it and swung Optimus over his head and smashed him facefirst into the floor.

Galvatron chuckled. "Is this the best you can do, Prime? I haven't even broken a sweat." He said.

Just then, three yellow jets flew past him, carrying Optimus' trailer. He powerlinked to Super mode, and the three jets powerlinked to Energon Saber.

"The Starsaber…" Galvatron said. "So, they're with you. That means the rest of the Minicons are with you, too."

"You're not going to get them, Galvatron. I will see to that." Optimus replied. He swung at Galvatron and took off his shoulder cannons. Optimus brought it down again, but Galvatron dodged. He backed up and met Cyclonus.

"Boss…" Cyclonus whimpered. The Omnicons had arrived with more clones of Galvatron's sword.

"No…" Galvatron breathed, when Demolishor landed amongst them. Only now did Galvatron notice that the hall was strewn with Terrorcon corpses.

"You're surrounded, Galvatron. Surrender." Optimus said.

Galvatron pulled the Energon Star he had from his shoulder. "Not today. Tidal Wave, retreat!" he shouted, before he conjured up a Space Bridge to take the Decepticons away.

"NO! You're not getting away, Demolishor!" Ironhide shouted as he charged.

Hot Shot held him back. "No. Not today."

"I will return, Prime. Mark my word, I will return!" Galvatron shouted as he teleported away.

"Of that, I have no doubt." Optimus said.


	9. Starscream: Shattered Soldier

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 9: Starscream: Shattered Soldier

A purple gate opened, and a black jet flew out, toward the shattered head of Unicron. The jet flew into the titanic cranium, and transformed. Starscream traversed the halls and found the chamber of Alpha Q.

"Have you accomplished your mission, Starscream?" the three-faced Quintesson asked.

"I have. The Star Saber, Requiem Blaster, and Skyboom Shield are in the hands of the Autobots. I assume my objective is now to retrieve them?" Starscream replied.

"Only one is required for our task. The Skyboom Shield. Retrieve it, if you can. Your primary objective on your next mission is much more important.

"Kill Optimus Prime."

Optimus Prime wandered through the corridors of Ocean City. The battle had spread too far in, despite everything they had done. Earth was becoming too threatened by this, too many humans had been killed. There had to be a way to keep these blasted attackers off the planet.

Inferno called out to Optimus from the ops room. "Optimus! Urgent call from Cybertron!"

Urgent? That didn't sound good. Was Cybertron under attack? Optimus ran into the ops room. "What's going on, Inferno?" he asked.

"Sir! Dr. Jones is on the line. He wants to speak with you." Inferno replied.

"Put him on."

The screen flickered to life. "Optimus! It's good to see you alive! How are things?" Dr. Jones said jovially.

"Not good. I'm sure you've heard about the Earth Invasion and the return of Galvatron." Optimus replied.

Dr. Jones turned somber. "Yeah. If only we had more warning…" he said. Then his mood changed back to happy. "I've got some great news, Optimus! Soon, you won't have to worry about any more attacks!"

Optimus stared. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Jones smirked. "What I mean is, the project I've been working on to protect Earth is nearing completion. We are constructing one now, and testing will begin as soon as it's done!"

"May I ask what it is, Doctor?"

"Sure. But I can't tell you yet. I want it to be a surprise! Rest assured, Optimus, within a month Earth will be almost impregnable!"

"This… This is the best news I've heard in months! I can't wait to see it!" Optimus exclaimed.

"And I can't wait to show you! Dr. Jones, out."

Starscream heard the entire conversation. Great. This defense grid didn't seem good. The way that human was hyping it, it might be an orbital network of Requiem Blaster cannons. And just ONE of those things would be more than enough to rip apart an entire planet. Of course, humans did have tendency to overhype things. He made a mental note to inform Alpha Q. He waited until Optimus and Inferno weren't paying attention, then darted by. He still had to kill Optimus, a task that would be made much easier with one of the Minicon teams.

Galvatron emerged from the Space Bridge with his soldiers in tow. Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, and Demolishor knew that someone was going to get a thrashing. That someone was usually Starscream, but since he was dead, they were worried about who it would be.

"Scorponok. You have some explaining to do." Galvatron said.

"If it's about Optimus, I had no idea he would recover so quickly. I know what I saw in his eyes." Scorponok replied.

Galvatron transformed and stared Scorponok in the face. "If I wasn't so low on soldiers I would pound you into scrap. As it stands, you will have to come up with a way to replace the Energon we spent in that attack."

Scorponok released his breath, which he hadn't realized he was holding. "Well, I can always begin raiding the outlying Autobot Energon outposts. It would not be difficult. I did the same thing to prepare my fleet to invade Earth."

Galvatron considered this. "What guarantee do I have that you won't betray me?"

"I am as loyal to you as I was to Alpha Q, my lord." Scorponok replied.

"That really boosts my confidence in you." Galvatron said sarcastically. "I'm willing to give you one chance, and one alone. Gather that Energon and rebuild your fleet. Then return to me. Betray me in any way, shape, or form," Galvatron leaned close to Scorponok's face, "and I will turn your insides into your outsides. Is that clear?"

"Of course. I would never betray one as powerful as you."

Galvatron leaned away. "Good. Get moving. Do not return until I order you to or the fleet is complete."

"As you command." Scorponok transformed and left with a portion of Galvatron's fleet.

Cyclonus approached Galvatron. "Sir, are you sure that was wise? We saw how easily Scorponok can flip sides. If he gets a fleet akin to what he had when he invaded Earth, he will most likely return to Alpha Q."

"Exactly why I plan to do my own mining. I want Unicron to be partially online when Scorponok returns. If he does betray us, I'll still have Unicron backing me." Galvatron replied.

Starscream darted through the halls of Ocean City. He'd had several flashes, all of a large, glowing blue sword. Starscream assumed that was the Starsaber, but still wasn't sure of who was holding it. Was it someone he once knew?

By this point, the visions, flashes, and dreams had come with such frequency that Starscream was sure these were his. Thing's he'd seen, most likely. But this one made no sense like that. This had to be a first person view. It had to be a past life, and this seemed very important to him.

And the face beyond the sword…

Every time he thought of that face sent him into a rage. He must have been hated for such emotions to pop up. But WHY?

Whatever the reason, he had enough control to keep those emotions suppressed. They had no place in his current job.

The next thing Starscream knew, he was staring at the floor. And he wasn't stealthed.

"Hey, are you okay?" the bot said as he helped him up. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you…" The omnicon paused, squinting at Starscream's face. "Wait a minute… You're Starscream!" he shouted. He was about to yell for help when he found a swond sticking through his spark.

"That's not something that needs to be announced." He said. Obviously the Autobots recognized Starscream. Not good. He needed to stop getting lost in thoughts and actually pay attention to what was happening.

And what was happening was that another Autobot was coming towards him. He looked around, searching for a place to hide the corpse. He spotted a trash chute, hurriedly stuffed the Omnicon in, then flattened against the wall and entered stealth mode.

The Autobot wandered past. Starscream was tempted to shoot him, then suppressed the urge. He proceeded on to the vault.

Ironhide sparred with Wingdecker in the rec room. Their swords clanged and sparked with each strike. After a few clashes, Wingdecker found Ironhide's blade pointed at his chest.

Wingdecker panted. "Good job, Ironhide. You're a natural!" he complimented.

Ironhide lowered his sword. "You… you mean it?" he stuttered.

"Of course. I think we've found your specialty!" Wingdecker replied.

Ironhide felt his faceplate temperature increase. "Uhhh, thanks!"

"Pretty soon, we'll have to stop calling you a greenhorn." Wingdecker chuckled. "C'mon. Let's go hit the refresher. I'll buy you a drink."

"I could use one." Ironhide said as he followed Wingdecker to the refresher.

Starscream stood before the high-security vault where the Autobots kept their valuables. He approached the control panel beside it.

"Enter Access code: " wrote itself on the screen.

Starscream rooted through his memories of the Autobot data cores. No access codes for the main vault. Slag. He'd have to improvise. He typed in a string of letters and numbers.

"Incorrect code. 2 more failed codes will result in termination," the computer told him.

Termination was unusually violent for the Autobots, solidifying is assertion that this was, indeed, the right vault. He tried another string.

"Incorrect code. 1 more failed attempt will result in termination." Gun ports opened on all sides of the vault and took aim at him, as if to say "I'm serious."

Starscream thought. This wasn't working. He looked around for another access. Nothing. He couldn't try random strings; they were getting him nowhere. There were no visible access ports or ventilation shafts.

_Wait. They keep Minicons in there. And the Autobots aren't cruel. They'd leave the Minicons a way to leave if necessary. And I may be able to get in that way._ Starscream thought.

He pulled up schematics of this area. There had to be something to give away the position of the back entrance. He searched for even the tiniest hole, the faint shimmer of a holowall. Anything.

Nothing. His last option was to try the string again, or blast the door open. Failure on the string would turn him into a pile of slag, and blasting the door open was sure to bring every Autobot in the complex down on him.

_If I was Optimus Prime, what would I make the code?_ Starscream thought. He tired one last string, and prayed it would work.

"Access code PrimusMatrix accepted. Welcome back, Optimus." The computer said. The guns disarmed.

Starscream released his breath as the vault door opened. He quickly scanned the interior and found that both the Starsaber and Requiem Blaster were missing. "Slag," he cursed silently. At any rate, the Skyboom shield was here. "Better than going back empty-handed, I guess."

Starscream took the Skyboom Shield from its perch and hefted it in his hand. He gave it a swing. "Excellent. This will certainly help. Alpha Q will be pleased," he said. "Now, to find Optimus Prime." Starscream darted off into the corridors in stealth mode, eager for his first _real_ kill.

Optimus stared at his Super Mode parts. His last battle with Galvatron proved something: he'd become too reliant on his Super Mode. He was still good at fighting, but he had become too accustomed to using the Super Mode when the going got tough. He'd have to find a way to work without them. No matter what it took, he had to stop using Super Mode so much.

Starscream stared at Optimus' back. Only his training kept him from chuckling to himself as he prepared his Particle Rifle for the killing blow. He screwed his sword end into the back of his rifle and watched as the charge flowed through the blade.

Ironhide practiced his sword moves on Ocean City's deployment deck. Everything seemed perfectly normal to him. No worries.

Optimus sighed. He had become too weak, now. He had to relearn how to fight without his trailer, like he did so many years ago.

Starscream leveled his rifle at Prime's head, then reconsidered. He lowered it to the chest, where the spark resided. He smirked, and prepared to pull the trigger.

Inferno stepped into the room where Optimus was. "Sir, did you access the vault?" he asked.

Optimus turned toward Inferno. "No. No one is supposed to…" Optimus' sentence was cut short when a particle beam blast slammed him against his trailer. He looked to where the shot had come, and saw a figure crouched there.

It held the Skyboom Shield.

"Inferno! Get him!" Optimus shouted. As soon as the words left his vocabulator, the figure shot Inferno twice, felling the Autobot. Optimus pulled out his blaster. "Whoever you are, you're not leaving here alive!"

"I beg to differ," the figure said as he unhooked his sword from his rifle and jumped at Optimus, prepared to stab his spark out.

Optimus fired his blaster and caught the intruder square on the chest. He fell backward, leveled his rifle, and shot Optimus.

Outside, Jetfire heard the commotion. He rushed to the room, only to find Inferno in stasis lock. He activated his comlink. "Attention all Autobots! Intruder Alert in Cargo Bay Twelve! Seal off all exits!" he shouted. He leapt into the room, rifle ready, to see the dark figure blasted back by Optimus. It leveled its own rifle and fired at Optimus, then darted from the room. It slashed at Jetfire on the way out, knocking him back.

Optimus came out beside Jetfire. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Jetfire waved him off. "I'll be fine. We should get Inferno to the med bay."

Optimus nodded. "Right. You do that. I'm going after our mystery guest." Optimus then darted down the hall as Jetfire hefted Inferno onto his shoulder.

Ironhide heard Jetfire's call. Only a few seconds later, Ironhide saw the intruder dart out of the city. "Where do you think you're going, pal!" Ironhide shouted after the intruder.

Starscream stopped and regarded this Autobot, then readied his sword. He wasn't about to leave without at least one kill.

Ironhide lunged at Starscream. "Eat this!" he shouted. Starscream ducked and swept Ironhide legs out from under him. He drove his sword down in a stabbing motion, which Ironhide blocked. Ironhide kicked Starscream off of him and brought his sword down. Starscream blocked with the Skyboom Shield, then pulled out his rifle and shot Ironhide. He stumbled back, and Starscream shot forward and slashed at Ironhide's midsection, opening a gash. Ironhide knocked him back and cradled his wound.

Starscream stared at the wounded Autobot. He then jumped and slashed at Ironhide's head. Ironhide ducked, but too late. Starscream's blade sliced through part of his head and took one of his shoulder guns with it. He holstered his rifle and lunged at Ironhide, sword ready to deliver the killing blow.

Optimus emerged at that very moment, just in time to witness Starscream's blade pierce Ironhide's armor.

And come out the other side.

Optimus screamed as he charged at Starscream, blasting away. Starscream brought up the Skyboom Shield and floated upwards toward a Space Bridge that had just appeared.

"Goodbye, Optimus Prime. We will meet again." He said as he withdrew his rifle and shot Optimus in the face, then shot Ironhide a few times in his already gaping wounds. He fled through the Space Bridge, chuckling to himself.

Jetfire emerged at that moment, Wingdecker, Kicker, and Hot Shot emerged from the city. "Sir! Where's the intruder?" Jetfire asked.

"He's… gone." Optimus said. He got up and knelt by Ironhide's side.

The other Autobots gathered around. "By the Matrix, what happened?" Hot Shot gasped in shock.

"He was fighting the intruder. It…" Optimus struggled.

Kicker came up beside Ironhide. "It's nothing a little time in the CR chamber can't fix. Right, Ironhide?" Kicker offered sadly.

Ironhide turned his head to face him. "Heh… I bet." He said weakly as he coughed up Energon.

"You fought like a real warrior, Ironhide." Optimus said.

"Yeah. Even **I** was impressed." Hot Shot said.

Ironhide smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys." He coughed. "Thanks for… everything. It was," He spat up more Energon. "an honor to fight alongside you guys."

"And it was an honor to serve with you, Ironhide," Optimus said, and saluted. The others followed suit.

Ironhide weakly mimicked the salute as his spark finally went offline. His head nodded to the side as his optics went dark.

Optimus stood, fists clenched. He looked up into the sky. "Your death will not have been in vain, Ironhide," he said.


	10. Secrets of Energon

Transformers: Energon DX

Episode 10: Secrets of Energon

Starscream emerged from the Space Bridge and he headed straight for Alpha Q. He knelt, displaying the Skyboom Shield.

"I have brought you the shield, my lord. Unfortunately, I failed to kill Optimus Prime. I did succeed in killing one other Autobot, one of Prime's elites, I would guess." Starscream said flatly.

Alpha Q grumbled. "Failure is a fast track to death, Starscream. You are fortunate that it is not a total failure." Alpha Q said. He thought for a time. "Perhaps we can mitigate this somehow. The Autobots will be distracted by the death of their comrade. The Decepticons will be your next target. Your assignment will be to kill Galvatron. We must move quickly after that if we are to restore Unicron. If Galvatron becomes an unassailable target, another Decepticon death will weaken them, as Galvatron's troops are extremely limited."

"But how will we retake Unicron's head? Scorponok is a Decepticon now. His fleet is now under Galvatron's control." Starscream asked.

"There is another hand to be played. And we have the right cards. Get moving." Alpha Q said.

Ravage watched the Energon Harvesters rip open the second mountain this week. Energon harvesting was one of the most boring jobs he could think of, but someone had to rebuild Alpha Q's armada. At the moment, it was close to where Scorponok had it before the Earth invasion. The planet had been almost completely drained of Energon, a large portion of which went towards reactivating Unicron.

Ravage wasn't stupid, which was why he had survived the invasion. He took time here to research improvements to the Terrorcons, including improved armor and weapons. Recently, he'd been developing a new type of Terrorcon; one that incorporated all of the prior improvements, as well as others, all in a new chassis. If only they'd work…

Galvatron sat on his throne, planning for his next attack. Someone chose that moment to contact him.

Galvatron glared at the comm.. He hated being interrupted while planning an attack. He looked at who was calling, then answered. "You'd better have a good reason for interrupting me, Scorponok." He snarled.

"Oh, I do. Recently, in fact, just a few minutes ago, someone attacked Ocean City on Earth. The Autobot Ironhide has been killed by the intruder, with the remaining Autobots having sustained heavy damage. The intruder made off with their Skyboom Shield. If there ever was a time to attack, it is now." Scorponok said.

Galvatron stared. There was no way he could be this lucky. "How did you attain this information?"

"I have Terrorcon spies, my lord, disguised as Omnicons." Scorponok replied.

Galvatron smiled. "Oh, luck seems to favor me today, yesss. Scorponok, what is the status of your fleet?"

"We stand ready with five heavy cruisers, and twenty light cruisers. Terrorcon numbers are in the tens of thousands."

"Excellent. Begin an attack on Ocean City. Do not destroy them outright. Merely aggravate their wounds."

Scorponok smiled. "As you wish, my lord. Scorponok out." He cut the transmission.

Galvatron stared out in the direction of Earth. "It won't be long, nooo. Soon, I will crush Optimus Prime. But first…" Galvatron withdrew his sword. "I require a sword better than the one my enemies can so easily replicate." Galvatron flung his blade into the ground, where wires immediately shot out from the walls to encase it. Galvatron worked his will on the sword, and the wires glowed acid green, forming a cocoon around their prize. Galvatron willed again, and a black tank, resembling his old body, burst forth from the cocoon and attached itself to Galvatron's arm. A blade appeared from the back end, and Galvatron gazed at his creation with adoring eyes. "Excellent."

Starscream watched Galvatron create his new sword. This was going to be interesting. A sword created from the elements of Unicron, against the might of the Skyboom Shield. His circuits quivered with anticipation. He readied his sword.

Galvatron caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his optic. He turned to look, but didn't see anything. "I know someone's there." He said, marching at the spot where Starscream stood.

Starscream knew this was his chance. He decloaked, and lunged at Galvatron, slashing at him as he went. Galvatron backed away quickly, then readied. "Ha! I knew there was an intruder! Prepare to die!" he shouted as he swung his blade at Starscream.

Starscream dodged, then lunged again, and Galvatron deflected it contemptuously. "Is this the best you can do?" Galvatron noticed the Skyboom Shield. "Ah, you must be the one who almost destroyed the Autobots. A pity you didn't finish." Starscream growled and lunged again. Galvatron blocked. "You're way out of your league now!" he exclaimed, and flung Starscream away.

Starscream got up. His tactics needed to change. He cloaked again and darted around to Galvatron's back. "Hiding won't save you, you know!" Galvatron called out. Starscream jabbed and his blow pinged off of Galvatron's body.

Galvatron swiveled, slashing at the air behind him. It clashed against something hard, and Starscream decloaked. Galvatron swung again, knocking the shield from Starscream's grip. He seized Starscream by the throat. "You thought you could assault me, the mighty Galvatron!" He looked at Starscream's head. "Wait… You look familiar." He thought for a moment. "Ah, yes, now I remember you! Starscream, once my most trusted soldier, and now a treacherous rat! But no, you couldn't do something like this on your own. Tell me, who do you serve?"

Starscream glared. "That's no concern of yours." He spat.

Galvatron chuckled. "I will dictate what is my concern and what is not." He pointed his blade at Starscream. "Tell me. Who do you serve? Is it Alpha Q?"

Starscream remained silent,.

"It is Alpha Q, isn't it? You certainly don't work for the Autobots. You were the one who attacked Ocean City, weren't you? Sent to destroy Optimus Prime? And then Alpha Q sends their assassin after me. Well, you're well out of your league this time!" Galvatron shouted as he flung Starscream into the wall. He strode over to the Skyboom Shield and picked it up. "Oh, yes. I now possess one piece of the best way to resurrect Unicron. But, until then…" Galvatron turned to Starscream, who was now struggling to get up. "I think I'll take care of you first."

"I don't think so, Galvatron! If anyone's going to die, it's going to be you!" Starscream shouted, slashing at Galvatron's leg.

Galvatron stumbled. "Please, Starscream. Is that the best you've got? I've had femmes hit me harder!" he taunted.

Starscream growled and lunged again. Galvatron deflected it contemptuously and kicked Starscream across the room. He strode toward the recovering Starscream, laughing. "Not bad, not bad. Your skill has certainly increased since last we met. Do you remember it?"

Starscream stared up at Galvatron. Suddenly, the image of a blue robot, structurally the same as the red one from his memories, appeared. And he had something glowing blue sticking out from him. The image faded, to be replaced with the now. "I have no idea what you're babbling about. I only know that my purpose is to kill you, and I have no intention of failing." Starscream lunged at Galvatron and slashed Galvatron.

Galvatron recoiled. "You're not going to kill me, Starscream. Instead, I shall return you to the purpose you once held: my most trusted servant."

"No! I will not go back! I trusted you! I was loyal! And when I needed you most, you stabbed me in the back! I will not return!"

Galvatron laughed. "What makes you think you have any choice! You belonged to me once, and you shall belong to me once again!" Galvatron lunged and seized Starscream's throat. "You are mine." He whispered as he drew back his hand to bind Starscream to him.

Scorponok turned away from the comm. Galvatron had just finished giving him the orders to attack the Autobots. "Of course, my lord Galvatron. While I'm at it, would you like me to make you an Energon crown?" he growled sarcastically.

He looked up at the stars. _Why?_ was all he could ask himself. _Why did I surrender? Why did I turn my back on Alpha Q? Am I that cowardly?_

_Well, no more. I serve Alpha Q, and no other. My army belongs to him. If Galvatron wants Earth so bad, he can come and take it himself._ Scorponok turned to his minions. "Step up the Energon harvesting! We will return to Alpha Q soon!"

Starscream was still not sure where his outburst came from, but it certainly answered why he felt so angry when thinking about Galvatron. His thoughts raced. There had to be a way to get out of this one. _Wait. Galvatron doesn't know that I'm the only assassin. If I can make him think there are more, then I might be able get out of this yet. _He thought.

"Now, Jhiaxus!" Starscream shouted, using a name he'd heard before.

"What!" Galvatron turned his head.

Starscream took that moment to kick Galvatron in the gut, loosening his grip. Statrscream dropped to the floor and grabbed the Skyboom Shield. He darted out of the room.

"Get back here, you coward!" Galvatron shouted, and gave chase.

Cyclonus and Demolishor walked down the hall. "I'm telling you, that's what happened!" Cyclonus shouted.

"And I'm telling you you're full of slag! The is no such thing as the undead!" Demolishor retorted.

"Then how were the Autobots dominated so easily, then? It's the undead!"

Demolishor laid his hand on Cyclonus' shoulder. "Listen, I've told you this too many times. Drugs are bad."

"Shut the frag up!" Cyclonus punched Demolisher in the face.

Starscream dashed down the hall and past the bickering pair. "Whoa! Who was that?" Cyclonus wondered.

"AFTER HIM, YOU FOOLS!" Galvatron bellowed, barreling down the hall. "THAT'S THE TRAITOR, STARSCREAM!"

"I thought he was dead!" Demolishor exclaimed.

"Apparently not! Now move, before we have to scrape you off the floor!" Cyclonus shouted, dragging Demolishor behind him.

Starscream rounded a corner and cloaked. He jumped up to the ceiling and waited.

"I saw him go this way!" Someone shouted. _Hey. That sounds like Cyclonus._ Starscream thought.

The trio rounded the corner. "All right, where are you hiding, you coward!" Galvatron called out. The three moved down the hall slowly.

When Galvatron passed under him, Starscream jumped down, driving his sword straight into Galvatron's back. He heard the sound of metal ripping, and briefly thought it was his sword breaking. When he turned, His sword was fine.

He had ripped a hole in Galvatron's back.

Starscream quickly took out all four of his plasma grenades and rammed them into the gash in Galvatron's back. He jumped back to watch.

Galvatron turned. "Why you little…" He didn't have time to finish the sentence, as the plasma grenades detonated, blasting open Galvatron's back and flinging shrapnel into the others.

Starscream watched as Galvatron sank to his knees, Energon spurting out of his mouth. As the titanic Decepticon leader fell flat on his face, Starscream walked up to him and pulled Galvatron's face to his. "Know this. You betray others, they will eventually come back to haunt you." He dropped Galvatron's face and stalked off, content that he had succeeded.

Cyclonus and Demolishor ran up to Galvatron's mangled body. "Galvatron, sir! Are you okay?" Cyclonus asked, earning only a glare from the wounded Decepticon.

"We have to get him to a CR chamber fast!" Demolisher urged.

_Starscream… You will pay. _Galvatron thought, before stasis lock silenced his thoughts.

Ravage analyzed the temple his men had found. It vaguely resembled old Roman structures from Earth. "Well? What have you found out?"

"Well, the few soldiers we've sent in have been lost. We don't dare send in any more. But there is Energon in there, and lots of it." The captain replied.

Ravage nodded. "Very well. What about weapons? Have you been able to blast it open?"

"Negative. It appears to be impervious to everything we've thrown at it."

Ravage thought for a moment. The temple seemed to call out to him. "I'm going in. Wait here."

"But, sir…"

"Don't argue. I'm going in." Ravage cut his captain off, and marched to the entrance of the temple. He paused, briefly questioning his decision. He shook the thought from his mind and proceeded in.

Starscream hovered outside the shattered body of Unicron. He knew Galvatron wasn't going to die, but, right now, he didn't care. During the battle, memories had come flooding back to him. Despite the fact that there were still gaps, they were now unimportant. He knew exactly who he was, who the Autobots and Decepticons were, and what he had died to do.

And failed.

Starscream shook his head. It seemed like peace was impossible for his people. The Autobots seemed to get it, but Galvatron didn't. As long as Galvatron existed, peace between the Transformers would be impossible. But he had the feeling that the Autobots had affected his troops more than he knew.

Starscream transformed and headed back to Alpha Q. His power base was stable. He was the future.

Ravage wandered the empty halls of the temple. He'd seen the corpses of his troops a while back, with wounds that still bled. Something was down here. Something bad.

Suddenly, Ravage no longer felt the wall beside him. His night vision showed only blackness beyond. Next thing he knew, he was blinded by light. He switched out of night vision and waited while his optics reset.

When they did, he stood in a chamber with liquid Energon flowing below. "So, that's the source of the Energon readings," he mused.

The Energon began to bubble as the torn and beaten wings of… something rose from the flow. The wings were the most normal part of the creature, which were followed closely by a pair of blood red eyestalks. More tentacles followed, forged out of Energon and the broken pieces of the assorted things that came down here. Ravage recognized some of the parts of his own troops.

"WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?" the creature boomed.

Ravage looked the monstrosity in its eyestalks. "I am Ravage General of the Terrorcon Army. Who, or what, may I ask, are you?"

"I? I AM THE MONUMENT OF DEATH. MANY CAME HERE SEEKING THE ENERGON OF THIS TEMPLE. NONE HAVE BEEN WORTHY."

"And how, exactly, does one prove themselves worthy?" Ravage queried, noticing the exit had sealed itself.

"IT IS EASY TO DO, BUT DIFFICULT TO SUCCEED IN. DO YOU SEE THE ENERGON BELOW YOU?"

"Yes."

"YOU MUST ENTER IT. THERE ARE MURALS DOWN THERE. IF YOU SURVIVE, YOU WILL SEE THE FORM OF WHAT YOU WILL BECOME ON THE BOTTOM."

"That sounds too easy. What's the catch?"

"SURVIVE. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW GREAT YOUR DEEDS IF THE ENERGON CONSUMES YOUR PHYSICAL FORM. THE GREATEST BEINGS FROM ACROSS TIME AND SPACE HAVE COME HERE SEEKING POWER, AND ALL HAVE BEEN CONSUMED BY IT. I STILL AWAIT THE ONE WHO WILL SURVIVE."

"What do you get out of it?" Ravage prodded.

"FREEDOM. IT WILL PRESENT ITSELF WHEN THERE IS A SURVIVOR."

Ravage looked down into the flow. "Have any others like me arrived?"

"YES. THOSE WHO FAIL ARE ABSORBED INTO ME."

Ravage looked at the monster seeing the remnants of a few of his troops. Now paying attention, he saw many bodies of hundreds of beings, not all of them Transformers. He recognized a few Quintesson soldiers, the old style Sharkticons, and a few old Seeker parts. He looked back down into the Energon, then dove in.

Almost immediately, Ravage felt the burn of the purest Energon he'd ever seen. His Energon collectors began to overload, so he shut them down and activated his vents. The Energon flowed into and through him working its way into every system in his body.

Ravage looked to the bottom to see his new form. As he drifted closer, the form of a dragon revealed itself. It didn't look like any dragon he'd ever seen though. Its wings looked torn, its head appeared as a skull. He couldn't make out more details than that, as the Energon had shown him his new body, and set to work.

It started with his right arm, which began to glow and bulge in places. His claw resolved itself into a solid form, which began to shape itself into the dragon's skull. His torso began to grow with it, expanding rapidly.

The rest of his body followed his arm, glowing, bulging, collapsing. His feet resolved themselves into massive claws, his legs becoming thick and muscular. His left arm followed, bulging into a muscular arm with a five-fingered claw. The wings erupted from his back, stretching behind him. His head finally mutated, the dragon's tail growing from the back.

The Energon Well guardian floated, waiting. The little robot hadn't been absorbed into him yet, unlike the others. Perhaps there was hope.

The Energon began to bubble in a spot, and the guardian turned to face it. The form of a new creature emerged, and the guardian knew he had finally found his liberator.

"WELL DONE. BEFORE YOU MAY LEAVE, THERE IS ONE MORE THING THAT MUST BE DONE," the guardian said.

"And that is?" Ravage growled.

The guardian struck Ravage. "YOU MUST NOW DESTROY ME. IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO BE WORTHY OF YOUR BODY."

Ravage floated up to the guardian. Energy collected in Ravage's dragon hand. "That won't take long."

The Terrorcon lieutenant had been waiting for hours. Ravage was most certainly dead, but he didn't want to send anyone else in to confirm.

"Sir! Something's coming out of the temple!" one of the Terrorcons reported frantically.

The lieutenant ran down to the entrance to see… Ravage. The face was easily recognizable as him, but the body wasn't. It was easily two and a half times the size of the old Ravage. "General Ravage? Is that you, sir?"

Ravage looked at his lieutenant. "Yes. Prepare the transports. We're going back to Alpha Q."

Author's notes:

A few questions to answer:

Ravage: A cross between the Warcraft III Frost Wyrm and TM2 Megatron. Robot mode head is Ravage's normal head.

Wingdecker/dagger: A few people have told me that Wingsaber's name before his reformatting was Wingdagger. I kept hearing it as Wingdecker, so that's who he his. It's the same character, though, so don't worry. ;P


End file.
